Saint Narahari Tirtha:
In a remarkable discovery, a member of the Team of Research on Culture and Heritage (TORCH) has hit upon a three-foot idol of the 13th Century saint, Narahari Tīrtha recently.
- Narahari Tirtha (c. 13th century) was a prominent Dvaita Vedanta philosopher, scholar, and saint in the Madhva tradition.
- He was a disciple of Madhvacharya, the founder of Dvaita philosophy, and played a key role in spreading the doctrine in eastern India, particularly in the Kalinga region (modern Odisha and Andhra Pradesh).
- Believed to have hailed from Chikakolu town (present Srikakulam), Tirtha’s ancestors were aristocrats in the Gajapati empire in what is now the Odisha state.
- Available epigraphical evidence suggests that kings of Eastern Ganga dynasty were assisted by the saint for three decades.
- He ensured that the king followed Sanatana Dharma and took care of its adherents by formulating a proper executive system to oversee the temple administration.
- His contributions on this front are well documented in inscriptions available in the Simhachalam and Srikurmam (Srikakulam) temples.
- As saint Ramanuja had introduced Vaiṣṇavism in the region, it was Narahari Tīrtha’s prolonged presence that resulted in Acharya’s Vaiṣhṇavism getting a firm following in this region, but in a completely non-interfering and secular manner.
- Shri Narahari wrote fifteen books, but only two of his works, Gita Bhasya and Bhavaprakasika are existing today.
- He was the first one to have composed Devaranamas in Kannada.
- He was instrumental in propagating two more art forms: Yakṣagana Bayalaṭa which is a form of dance-drama famous in and around coastal Karnataka; and the classical dance form that evolved in Andhra Pradesh as the famous Kuchipudi.
- The saint, upon his passing away, was consecrated near the rock adjacent to Chakratirtha at Hampi on the banks of Tungabhadra.
