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History of Sri Sanjeevi Rayar Temple
Steeped in glorious history this is indeed a legendary temple.

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History of Sri Sanjeevi Rayar Temple, Ayyangar Kulam, South IndiaSri Sanjeevi Rayar temple in the small village of Ayyangar Kulam is a legendary temple. As the researches have revealed this area is a celebrated place and the Hanuman temple situated here have a glorious history. From the historical researches it is known that this temple was constructed by a great scholar and administrator named Kotikanyadanam Lakshmikumara Tatacharya. This administrator was popularly known as Ettur Lakshmikumara Tatacharya and was highly venerated. He was the royal preceptor (raja-guru) of the Vijayanagar emperor Venkata Raya II (1586-1614 A.D.) who had his capital at Chandragiri in the region of Andhra Pradesh. He performed the coronation of this king. The newly coroneted king entrusted much of the administration of his realm to his guru, Tatacharya. Tatacharya was then the manager (Sri-karya-durandara) of many temples in Kanchipuram like the Sri Varadarajasvami temple and other important shrines elsewhere. He contributed immensely to the growth and expansion of the Sri Varadarajasvami temple through several donations. He presented many vahanas to this shrine and covered the vimana above the sanctum of Goddess Perundevi Thayar. This vimana was popularly called Kalyanakoti vimana, with gold in 1614 A.D.

There is a historical tale behind the construction of this temple at Ayyangar Kulam by Tatacharya, when he was the manager of many temples at South India. When he was returning from a pilgrimage, a few robbers tried to attack him at this place. Being a great devotee of Lord Hanuman, this scholar instantly composed a poem of twenty delectable verses in chaste Sanskrit eulogizing this deity. At once, the bandits ran away and Tatacharya decided to build a temple dedicated to Anjaneya at that very spot. In this task, he was assisted by the Vijayanagar emperor who donated generously to this noble cause. This area is known as Ayyangar Kulam following the name of Tatacharya who was popularly known as Ayyangar. Moreover he was responsible for the building of this shrine and also constructed the stupendously large tank called Tatasamudram in front of it, which also follows the name of Tatacharya. In the past, the sacred sanctum was also known as Tiruvadi Raya Puram and as Tiruvadi Puram as Anjaneya is also known as Siriya Tiruvadi. Thus from the historical background of the temple it is known that Sri Sanjeevi Rayar temple is an ancient one and of enough chronological importance


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