Mantralayam
Discover Mantralayam
Mantralayam is a Hindu religious place where the Moola Brindavanam of Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy is located. Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy (1601-1671) was an influential saint in Hinduism. He advocated Vaishnavism (i.e. worship of Vishnu as the supreme God.) and Dvaita philosophy advocated by Sri Madhavacharya. He is considered to be a reincarnation of Prahalada, the devotee who was saved by Vishnu, in his avatar of Narasimha. Shri Raghavendra Swamy is said to have performed many miracles during his lifetime and is believed to continue to bless his devotees to this day and will continue to do so. The town is at the Karnataka border of Andhra Pradesh on the southern bank of Tungabhadra river. The majority of people here can converse with both Telugu and Kannada languages. You can also find people speaking Tamil.
Taste of Mantralayam...
Good food is available easily and at affordable places. Please take care, as the cleanliness is poor on various eating places. There's also MTR just opposite to the temple entrance, but there are no chairs to sit. One has to stand and eat. But the taste is very good. Lodges & hotels are available in Mantralayam easily but it is always better to book in advance especially if visiting during weekends, Thursdays and public holidays. Twenty kilometers away across the state line in Raichur is a temple called Panchamukha that commemorates the spot where Sri Guru Raghavendra is said to have meditated for twelve years before Sri Anjaneya.
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsMantralayam is around 250 km from Hyderabad, the journey from Hyderabad takes about 6-8 hours by road. It takes about 10 hours by road from Bangalore. To reach Mantralayam from Bangalore, KSRTC has introduced a new bus called "Vaibhav". It is similar to "Rajahamsa". Apart from these, there are Volvo buses ("Airavat") as well. If you are driving from Hyderabad, you need to take the NH7 - the highway to Bangalore and take a diversion at Jadcherla. Various state roads will take you to Mahaboobnagar and Raichur in Karnataka. Mantralayam is around 600 km from Chennai. It can be reached through the route of Chittoor. It is around 650 km from Mangalore. By road, one can take private buses from Mangalore to Bellary and from Bellary one can get ample number of KSRTC buses to Mantralayam. The journey takes almost 15 hours. The nearest rail head is Mantralayam Road. It lies on the Mumbai-Bangalore, Delhi-Bangalore and the Mumbai-Chennai train routes....
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
The place is small enough to be covered on foot. If you drive into the temple complex, there is a charge of ₹15 for parking. The collection of parking charges is inconsistently done, however. Rickshaws are available all over the place. The temple and "Mutt" complex is the main attraction here, but most people here are believers, not sightseers. If you go in the evening on special occasions (it is a regular event around 8PM), you can see chariots carrying the deity being drawn around the temple and the temple elephants paying obeisance to the deity. It is quite a spectacular sight. There are three chariots, one plated in gold, the other in silver and the third in sandalwood. Behind the temple the Tungabhadra river flows, which is also worth seeing. Before entering the sanctum sanctorum of Mutt, you are advised to take a bath (or at least wash your feet) on the banks of Tungabhadra river (or at the tap in front of the mutt).
Where to Stay
Lodges & hotels are available in Mantralayam easily but it is always better to book in advance especially if visiting during weekends, Thursdays and public holidays. Twenty kilometers away across the state line in Raichur is a temple called Panchamukha that commemorates the spot where Sri Guru Raghavendra is said to have meditated for twelve years before Sri Anjaneya.
Safety Information
Glimpses of Mantralayam
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person
a close up of a statue of a person