Mandya, Karnataka: Nambi Narayana temple Padmanabhan Ramanujacharya: After leaving Srirangam in Tamilnadu, Sri Ramanuja sought asylum in this place. He was received with all respects by one of his disciples Thondnur Nambi. The place was then under the rule of one Pittidevan. He was staunch Jain. When Thaondanur Nambi visited him, he found the palace and all apartments plunged in darkness. The king told Nambi that his daughter was possessed of a ghost and his Jain Gurus could not cure her. Nambi assured the king that his Guru Ramanuja will drive the ghost away by holding his daughter. The king was happy and promised that he would embrace Vaishnavism if the Guru saved the daughter. The king and the queen received him with all courtesy. The Acharya spilled the water from his kamandala on the face of the princess. She fell fainted but rose up with a clear face, completely free from the ghost effect. Pittidevan and his wife became Ramanuja’s disciples. Sri Ramanuja renamed the king Vishnuvardan. Following the king, many shifted to Vaishnavism. Vishnuvardan built many Vaishnava temples as desired by the Guru. Temples for Belur Thalaikat Keerthi Narayana, Kodagu Veera Narayana and Melukot Seluva Narayana are a few among them, all speaking volumes of architectural beauty. They challenged him for a debate which he accepted. He faced 12,000 Jains from behind a curtain where Sri Ramanuja took the form of 12,000 hooded Adisesha and replied every objection raised by the Jains and defeated all the 12,000 Jains. ||Om Sri Nambi Narayana Namaha|| A TO Z INDIA NOVEMBER 2022 PAGE 13