Kumbhakonam - Succession

Sri Madhva Charya

Hari Sarvottama ! Vayu Jeevotamma ! Means Lord Sri Hari is the prime in this Universe and Sri Vayu is the prime among all living beings. Jeevotamma serves Sarvotamma with Bhakthi and enjoys His company, love and kindness. Sri Vayu devaru served Sri Rama as Sri Hanuman, Sri Krishna as Sri Bheemasena and Sri Veda Vyasa as Sri Madhva Charya. 

Sri Madhva Charya is also called as Sri Poorna Pragna and Srimad Aananda Theertha. He introduced a Vaidika Siddantha called "Dvaita" and gave birth to the Dviata Philosophy. He composed several articles on Brahma Sutras of Sri Veda Vyasa. He ordered all his followers to propagate Dvaita Philosophy. 

His disciple was Sri Padmanabha Theertharu. He composed some books(Satarka Deepavali, Sannyaya Ratnavali)which guides a right way of reading his Guru's books. He also composed a book that defines the principles of Panini.

Sri Narahari Theertha was the disciple of Sri Padmanabha Theertha. He came to know that Sri Moola Rama Vigraha(idols created and worshipped by Lord Brahma) were with Gajapathi Raja. He took the permission of his Guru, defeated Gajapathi Raja and took charge of those idols. They were dedicated to Sri Madhva Charya and were worshipped daily.

Sri Moola Rama Devaru:

Left: DigVijaya Rama Center: Moola Rama Right: Jaya Rama

His disciple was Sri Madhava Theertha and even he worshipped the idols of Sri Moola Rama devaru and propagated Dvaita Philosophy. Sri Akshobhya Theertha was his disciple and was a talented orator. He defeated Sri Vidyaranya with his oration on the topic of Tatvam. 

Sri Jaya Theertha(Sri Tika Charya)

His disciple was Sri Jaya Theertha who composed a glossary for all the texts of Sri Madhva Charya. Hence he was also called as Sri Tika Charya. Prior to assuming Sanyasa ashrama, it once so happened that he went out for a horse ride and was in the vicinity of Kagini river where Sri Akshobhya Theertha was in meditation. He was tired and went to the banks of river to drink some water. He drank water, turned around and saw Sri Akshobhya Theertha standing behind. He approached him and pleaded to give him Sanyasa. Sri Akshobhya Theertha understood his intention and gave him Sanyasa. Meanwhile his relatives walked in and scolded Sri Akshobhya Theertha for giving him Sanyasa. They took Sri Jaya Theertha by force to their house, only to see him transformed to a 14 headed huge snake. They were shocked to see this and immediately went back to Akshobhya Theertha and returned the snake. Again the snake transformed to Sri Jaya Theertha. The relatives fell at the feet of Sri Akshobhya Theertha and pleaded to forgive their foolish behavior. Even Sri Jaya Theertha performed the Moola Raama puja and propagated the Dvaita Philosophy. You can find his monastery in the village of Malkhed in Gulbarga. He handed over the idols to Sri Vidyadhi Raja. 

Then the idols were worshipped by his(Sri Vidyadhi Raja) successors in the following order: Sri Kavindra Theertha, Sri Vajista Theertha, Sri Rama Chandra Theertha, Sri Vibhudendra Theertha, Sri JitaMitra Theertha, Sri Surendra Theertha till Sri Vijayeendra Theertha. 

Successor of Sri Vijayeendra Theertha was Sri Sudheendra Theertha. He performed puja to the idols that he had acquired from his Guru. He defeated many great scholars with his command over literatures and won many accolades from Kings. Later he moved his peetam to Kumbhakonam in the Chola dynasty and settled there.

Venkatanatha, along with his wife and son started to Kumbhakonam to meet this Guru, Sri Sudheendra Theertharu.

Sri Raghavendraya Namaha !!!