Mantralayam

Mantralaya
	Mantralaya
	— town —
	Mantralaya, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
	Mantralaya Location of Mantralaya; in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates	15°56′30″N 77°25′41″E / 15.94167°N 77.42806°ECoordinates: 15°56′30″N 77°25′41″E / 15.94167°N 77.42806°E
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District(s)	Kurnool
Nearest city	Raichur (Karnataka)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
• Pincode	• 518345
• Telephone	• +08512
• Vehicle	• AP21
Website	www.mantralayam.com

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Mantralaya (Telugu: మంత్రాలయం, Kannada:ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ) is a town in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra river on the border with neighbouring Karnataka state. It is also called as Manchale. This town is noted for the holy presence of the Vrindavana of Guru Raghavendra Swami, a Madhwa saint and follower of Sri Madhwacharya. It is believed that Guru Raghavendra Swami is in the Vrindavana from the past 339 years and is believed to be in the Vrindavana for another 361 years. While entering the Vrindavana, Guru Raghavendra Swami stated that he would be there (in the Vrindavana) for 700 years.^[1]

The nearest railway station is Mantralaya Road, 16 kilometres away. This station is on the Guntakal - Raichur railway route. There are frequent bus services from Raichur and Bellary in Karnataka and from Adoni, Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Mantralaya is about 35 km from Raichur and 120 km from Bellary,53 km fron Adoni, 100 km from Kurnool and 250 km from the state capital Hyderabad. There are trains from Bangalore which passes through Mantralaya Road, which is an overnight journey. There are three trains from Bangalore everyday viz.,Lokmanya TT Express, Udyan Express and the Nanded Express. To reach the mutt from Mantralaya Road Railway Station, one can hire a tempo or cab which are available outside of the station. Tempo charges are Rs.20 (On a shared basis) and Rs.200 (for family or individual) and cab charges Rs.400 for family. The road to the mutt is good and takes approximately 30 minutes to reach. Manchalamma is the presiding deity of the Manchale village and one has to offer prayers to Manchalamma first before they enter Sri Raghavendra Swamiji's(SRS) mutt to get his blessings. The Manchalamma's shrine is located on the left of the SRS mutt and both are on the banks of River Tunghabadra.

Sri.Appanacharya was the prime student of Swamiji. Swamiji stayed with Sri.Appanacharya in Bikshalaya(aka Bichali) for 13years. This place is also located on the banks of River Tunghabadra and it is 20 km from Mantralayam. Many interesting facts & information about this place can be found in the following links.

http://www.appanacharya.org/

http://www.bichali.org/

Route to Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple and Bikshalaya(Bichali): From Mantralayam Temple to Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple & Bichali, you can easily hire Shared Autos outside of the temple. On sharing basis, the charges are Rs.150(To & Fro)/ person. Else they charge Rs.700 for individuals. Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple is 23km(Approx.) First, you have to pass through Madhavaram village. From there, take a right turn and proceed till you reach R.Tungabhadra. The roads are very bad and a permanent bridge is under construction. After you pass this, you enter the Raichur District of Karnataka. Proceed further and you reach Chiksugur camp junction. The road to the right leads to Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple and left goes to Bichali. The road to Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple is worst. The Temple is open for Darshan from 0530Hrs and closes at 1300Hrs. Again it opens in the evening and closes at 2000Hrs. From here, it is 18km to Bichali and you have to pass through Chiksugur camp Junction and proceed straight. The road from Chiksugur camp Junction is very good. Bichali is on the banks of R.Tungabhadra and you can see this from the Rail bridge after Mantralayam Road station towards Raichur. This spot is very serene and scenic and worth the time you spend. You can take bath in the River as it is shallow. But exercise care, as the bed is very rocky. Even today, the Appanacharya generations are performing the poojas daily. Visiting here in the month of August can be difficult as floods are common during monsoon. After the 2009 floods, the 400years old Appanacharya's house has been completely washed off and it is currently being renovated. Due to lack of funds, the pace is slow. Visiting these two places will take 3-4hours and will give you a great satisfaction. Visiting Mantralayam & these two places will make the trip a memorable one.

Lakhs of devotees come here to have a glimpse of the Brindavana or Vrindavana every year.

There are lot of hotels around the mutt and getting accommodation is not difficult. Summers are hot here and winter season is pleasant. Winter mornings may be very chill.

In October 2009 due to heavy floods in Tungabhadra River, the complete village and Vridavanam were Submerged in water. All the people were safe. However many devotees and volunteers had volunteered to reconstruct the affected sites in the temple and the town and the temple was restored to its original beauty.^[2]