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Hindi Saint who influenced British rulers in India, the legacy


The British rule in India is marked by the introduction of Christian faith to India and it has gained some notoriety for the mass scale conversions that took place here. The missionaries, in their quest to spread the faith successfully tapped the lower echelons of the caste system in India. But stories also abound about how the rulers were influenced by Hinduism and its influential saints. One such well recrded piece of history is the Mantralaya incident involving the British collector in the 19th century


Sri Raghavendra Swamiji was a renowned saint scholar and proponent of dvaita philosophy of the 17th century, he has millions of admirers across many states including this author. His miraculous powers enthralled many devotees including those from other faiths. Two of the prominent believers included Sir Thomas Munro and the nawab of Adoni.


Sir Thomas Munroe & Sri Raghavendra Swami, Mantralaya Incident

Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet came to India in 1779 where he was appointed to an infantry cadet ship in Madras, served with his regiment during the hard-fought war against Haidar Ali. In 1819, he was appointed governor of Madras and became famous for the 'Ryotwari system

         

When Sir Thomas Munro was the Collector of Bellary in 1800, the Madras Government ordered him to procure the entire income from the Raghavendra Swamy Matha and the village of Mantralaya. When the revenue officials were unable to comply with this order, Sir Thomas Munro visited the Matha for investigation. He removed his hat and shoes and entered the sacred precincts. Sri Raghavendra SwamygaLu emerged from the Vrindavana and conversed with him for some time, about the resumption of endowment.


The Saint was visible and audible only to Munro, who received Manthrakshate (god's blessing). The Collector went back and wrote an order in favour of the Math and the village. This notification was published in the Madras Government Gazette in Chapter XI, page 213, with the caption "Manchali Adoni Taluka". This order is still preserved in Fort St. George and Mantralaya. How fortunate was Munro to be blessed by Rayaru himself.

218 years later, fifth generation of Munro’s family visited Mantralaya in July 2018 and obtained the blessings of Rayaru







The connection between Lord Hanuman and Sri Raghavendra Swami - check here 




This post first appeared on Echoes Of The Grey Hills, please read the originial post: here

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