King Virupaksha II (1465–1485 CE) belonged to the Sangama Dynasty of the Vijayanagar Empire. By the time he came to power, there were a number of claimants to the throne. Many of his cousins, formed a coup against him and the king was forced to abandon his throne. Later, Virupaksha gathered his followers who were loyal to him and entered the palace in the dead of the night and killed those who had risen against him while they were sleeping. He assumed power once again as the King of Vijayanagar Empire but unfortunately, he was still not free from his cousins who had plotted against him. As he had killed them in their sleep, his cousins became ghosts and started to haunt his palace. Forced to endure a ghostly existence by the King, they became poltergeists and started to trouble the King. The King once again abandoned his palace and moved to a newly constructed palace in the city. The apparitions continued to haunt the palace and the neighbourhood around the old palace.
In the meantime, there were two Sri Vaishnavite Acharyas Ettoor Nrisimhachar and Sriranganathachar who were brothers belonging to the lineage of Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi, the maternal uncle of Swami Ramanujacharya. The two acharyas decided to move to Vijayanagar to seek the support of King Virupaksha II for various kaimkaryams. As they were not from Vijayanagar, they didn’t know that the King had moved into a new palace or that the old palace was haunted. The two acharyas arrived at the gates of the old palace at dusk with a Srimad Ramayana Grantham. The Brahmma Tejas radiating from them forced the ghostly guardians of the palace to allow them into the palace. Unaware of the hidden dangers, the two acharyas walked down the deserted pathway leading up to the main entrance. The setting sun cast long shadows along the pathway while the lamps lighted by the ghostly presence in the palace cast an eerie glow that only enhanced the dark shadows. The two Acharyas entered the Royal Court and were greeted by the King of the Ghosts and his ghostly courtiers. Normally the apparitions would have harmed anyone who came into the palace but, the Brahmma Tejas emanating from the Acharyas due to the crores of Thirumanthram and Dwaya Manthram they had recited made the phantoms pay obeisance to the Acharyas.
‘You appear to be holy people,’ said the Ghost King. ‘Who are you and why did you come here?’
‘We take roots from Sri Satamarshana Maharishi in Krutha Yuga and belong to the glorious lineage of Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi the maternal uncle of Swami Ramanujacharya. You may have heard that moved by the devotion of our ancestor Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi, Lord Srinivasa of the Seven Hills addressed him as “Tatha” i.e father. Swami Ramanujacharya learnt Srimad Ramayana from Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi. We have come here with the sacred Grantham and would like permission to lecture your court on this sacred Grantham as taught to Swami Ramanujacharya by Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi.’
The ghosts were moved by the speech of the acharyas. The contact with the acharyas made them realise that they have been given a unique opportunity to study this sacred Grantham.
‘We welcome you to our abode,’ said the Ghost King. ‘You may lecture us on Srimad Ramayana but, must do so only in the evening as we are tied up with many chores during the day.’
And so, every day in the evening the two acharyas visited the Ghostly Court and rendered kalakshepam on Srimad Ramayana.
The phantoms listened eagerly and their enthusiasm increased with the passing of each day. They looked forward to the arrival of the two acharyas each day and they slowly developed “Rama Bakthi”. The gloomy shadow surrounding the haunted palace was slowly displaced by the light generated by “Rama bakthi”. After many days of kalakshepam, the day of “Rama Pattabhishekam” came. The acharyas had requested the ghostly court to prepare special offerings to celebrate Sri Rama Pattabhishekam. The moment the acharyas concluded Sri Rama Pattabhishekam, the ghosts led by their king paid obeisance to the acharyas and showered them with gold coins.
‘We feel truly blessed to have studied Srimad Ramayana under your guidance. Now, it is time for us to be honest with you. I am not King Virupaksha II,’ revealed the King of Ghosts. ‘You mistook us for the living. We are all ghosts forced to endure this ghostly existence because King Virupaksha murdered us while we were sleeping. We felt angry because we had been cursed to exist as ghosts. We became poltergeist and haunted this palace and its neighbourhood until you arrived here. Because of your blessings and because we listened to Srimad Ramayanam, the curse has been lifted and we are finally on our way to heaven. We are leaving for heavenly abodes now and will not be seen in this palace anymore. We have been freed from our curse because of your grace and hence, we are forever indebted to you!’
The phantoms after paying their obeisance left the palace and were freed from their ghostly existence. News of this incredible event reached the ears of King Virupaksha II who rushed to the old palace to greet the two acharyas. King Virupaksha II was a Veera Saivaite who like Kulathonga Chola had been hard on all Vaishnavas. King Virupaksha II had promised to give his daughter Padmavati in marriage to King Purushottama Dasa of Orissa but had changed his mind when he learnt that King Purushottama Dasa swept the chariot of Lord Jagannatha during the famous Rath Yatra. Now, King Virupaksha II who had hated Vaishnavites realised the greatness of Lord Rama and requested to be accepted into the Sri Vaishnavite fold.
Such is the power of Srimad Ramayana which destroys the sins of those who read/listen to this sacred Grantham with devotion. The ghosts were indeed blessed that they had obtained the opportunity to study this sacred Grantham under the guidance of prominent acharyas belonging to the lineage of Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi! Acharyas from this great lineage adorned the court of later Vijayanagar Kings and they were popularly called as Tathachars. The empire flourished under the guidance of these devoted acharyas. It is very sad to see that in the Sab TV show Tenali Rama, the conniving and greedy Raja Guru is named as Tathachar. This show is a brilliant production which promotes one’s love for this great empire and the greatest of monarchs, Sri Krishnadeva Raya but, the only regret is that they have named the scheming and greedy Raja Guru as Tathachar. There is actually no need to name the Raja Guru. The Kotwal and his wife have no names on the show and are addressed by their title as Kotwal and Kotwalan. The producers should have followed the same rule and should have addressed Raja Guru by his title and not as “Tathachar”. In fact, the main Raja Guru of King Krishnadevaraya was the great saint Vyasatirtha (c. 1460–c. 1539) belonging to the order of Sri Madhwacharya. The stories of Tenali Rama were popularised as the persistent feud between Tenali Rama and the Raja Guru but, in reality, it must have been a competition between Tenali Rama and some other poet/courtier as the real Raja Guru Sri Vyasatirtha was not capable of such jealous acts. Sri Vyasatirtha was a great acharya and a great devotee of Lord Krishna who was also politically responsible for the development of irrigation systems in many villages.
The famous Tathachar of Vijayanagar Empire was Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar or Sri Lakshmi Kumara Thatha Desikan ((1571–1643). As seen above, Sri Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar of Sri Satamarshana Gothram hailed from the holy lineage of Sri Peria Thirumalai Nambhi. This famous acharya also traces his origin from the most celebrated Sri Vaishnava Acharya Sri Swami Vedanta Desikan. He advised Venkatapathi Raya. His father/grandfather probably advised King Krishnadeva Raya who reigned from 1509 to 1529, Sri Achyuta Deva Raya who reigned from 1529–1542 CE and Sri Aliya Rama Raya who reigned from 1542.
Sri Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar held the twin post of Raja Guru and Chief Minister of the State. He travelled all over India for the sole purpose of teaching people who belonged to various cadres of society. He has been praised by other great philosophers like Sri Appaya Dikshitar.
Sri Tatha Desikan was a great devotee of Lord Rama. Once, he was travelling with the wealth he had received as a prize from various kings. He was taking his winnings to offer to Lord Varadaraja Perumal of Kanchipuram. He arrived at the outskirts of Kanchi at night and decided to rest with his disciples till daybreak. Unknown to them, a band of robbers who had been following them started to rob them while they slept but, a group of monkeys arrived at the spot and chased the robbers away! They not only chased them but guarded the treasure till daybreak! Thus, the wealth which was meant as offering to Sri Varadaraja Perumal was saved from plunder. While the monkeys were chasing the robbers, Sri Tatha Desikan had the darshan of Lord Hanuman in his dream who showed him the entire happenings! Sri Tatha Desikan on waking up found the unconscious robbers and the monkeys who were guarding the treasure! Overwhelmed with joy and devotion, Sri Tatha Desikan used a portion of the funds to construct a temple for Lord Rama, Sita Piratti, Lord Lakshmana and Lord Hanuman. The Lakshmi Saras at Kumbakkonam was built by him for Goddess Komalavalli and this lake is now popularly called as Tatha Samudram. Sri Krishnadeva Raya made him the "Manager-General" known as "Sri Karya Thurantharar" of all the Divya Desam Temples existing in their Empire.
This devoted Acharya was also a humanitarian who established many feeding halls were the poor were fed regularly for free. He also established the so-called "Desanthri Kattalai" the "Order to serve Travelers" in various Temples to feed the devotees visiting those temples daily. He was also awarded the Honorary Title "Koti Kannikadhana" because he literally sponsored the wedding of a koti needy couple.
There is a six feet idol of Sri Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar along with His consort Sri Kamala Ammangar paying obeisance to Sri Swami Vedanta Desikan in the temple of Sri Varadaraja Perumal in Kanchipuram. It is still customary for Sri Varadaraja Perumal to offer respects to these acharyas by giving satari, teertham and sacred garland before proceeding on processions.
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