Other Shrines

Deities

Hayagriva

There are also many subsidiary shrines of great beauty and significance. On Aushada Giri (Medicine Hill) is a shrine to Hayagriva, Lord Hayagriva the horse-faced form of Lord Vishnu who is the presiding deity of knowledge. It is said that at the age of twenty, a young Vedanta Desika meditated here on Lord Hayagriva and secured His blessings. In Lord Hayagriva’s sannidhi are Lakshmi Hayagriva, Yoga Hayagriva (pictured on the left), Yoga Narasimha, Venugopala, and Garuda.

In addition, the Hayagriva vigraha said to have been worshipped by Desika graces devotees in Devanatha’s sannidhi.

Gopalakrishna

The shrine dedicated to Krishna as the youthful cowherd boy of Brindavana is also a special one, as it attracted Desika so much that he composed the twenty verses of the Gopala Vimsati in His praise.

Sri Rama

Of special beauty and majesty are the images of Sri Rama with Sita and Lakshmana on either side, pictured below. The deities here were the inspiration for Desika’s masterful prose-poem, the Raghu Veera Gadyam.

Anjaneya Swami

At the foothills of Aushada Giri is a sannidhi to Sri Anjaneya, facing north.

Acharyas

There are also sannidhis for all the primary acharyas of the tradition, including Sri Vedanta Desika and Manavaala Maamunigal. Sri Desika’s association with this divya desam is discussed on a separate page.