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{{Short description|Hindu philosopher and theologian (c.1595–1671)}}
{{Redirect|Raghavendra}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name           = Raghavendra Tirtha
|image          = Ragavendra1.jpg
|caption        = 
|religion       = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_date     = 1595 or 1598
|birth_place    = [[Bhuvanagiri, Tamil Nadu|Bhuvanagiri]] ({{Small|present-day in [[Cuddalore district]] [[Tamil Nadu]]}})
|birth_name     = Venkatanatha Bhatta
|death_date     = 1671
|death_place    = [[Mantralayam]] ({{Small|present-day in [[Kurnool district]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]]}})
|children       = Lakshminarayanacharya
|guru           = [[Sudhindra Tirtha|Sudheendra Tirtha]]
|philosophy     = [[Dvaita Vedanta]]
|order          = [[Vedanta]]
|honors         = ''Parimalacharya''
|successor      = Sri Yogendra Tirtha
|literary_works = ''Bhatta Sangraha'', ''Nyaya Sudha Parimala'', ''Tantradipika''
}}
{{Vaishnavism}}
{{DvaitaInfobox}}

'''Raghavendra Tirtha''' ({{IAST|Rāghavēndra Tīrtha}}), also referred as '''Raghavendra Swami''', ({{Circa}}1595 – {{circa}}1671) was a [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] scholar, theologian, and [[saint]]. He was also known as '''Sudha Parimalacharya''' ({{IAST|Sudhā Parimaḷācārya}}). His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of [[Madhva]], [[Jayatirtha]], and [[Vyasatirtha]], interpretation of the [[Principal Upanishads]] from the standpoint of [[Dvaita]] and a treatise on [[Purva Mimamsa]]. He served as the pontiff of the [[matha]] at [[Kumbakonam]] from 1621 to 1671.{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=278}} Raghavendra Tirtha was also an accomplished player of the [[veena]] and he composed several songs under the name of ''Venu Gopala''.{{Sfn|Rao|1966|p=85}} His memorial at [[Mantralayam]] attracts [[lakh]]s (hundreds of thousands) of visitors every year.

==Biography==
Raghavendra Tirtha was born as Venkatanatha in the town of [[Bhuvanagiri, Tamil Nadu|Bhuvanagiri]], present day in [[Tamil Nadu]] into a [[Kannada people|Kannada]] [[Madhva Brahmin]] family of Gautama Gotra of musicians and scholars.{{Sfn|Hebbar|2005|p=229}}{{Sfn|Callewaert|1994|p=187}} His great-grandfather Krishna Bhatta was a tutor to the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara]] emperor [[Krishnadeva Raya|Krishnadevaraya]]. His grandfather was Kanakachala Bhatta,{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=482}} and his father Thimmanna Bhatta (also known as Thimmannacharya) was an accomplished scholar and musician.{{Sfn|Aiyangar|1919|p=252}} After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, Thimmanacharya migrated to [[Kanchi]] with his wife Gopikamba. Venkatanatha had two siblings—Gururaja and Venkatamba. Venkatanatha's education was taken care of by his brother-in-law Lakshmi Narasimhacharya at [[Madurai]] after the early demise of his father, and he subsequently got married.{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=279}}

In 1624, Raghavendra Tirtha became the pontiff of the ''Kumbhakonam Matha'', which was earlier known as ''Vijayeendra Matha'' or ''Dakshinadi Matha'', now known by the name of [[Raghavendra Math (Mantralayam)|Mantralaya Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha]]. [[Uttaradi Math]] along with [[Vyasaraja Math (Sosale)|Vyasaraja Math]] and [[Raghavendra Math (Mantralayam)|Raghavendra Math]] are considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions of [[Dvaita Vedanta]] and are jointly referred as ''Mathatraya''.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=199}}<ref name="Rosen-p132">{{cite book |author=Steven Rosen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IrQkw5x2o4C&pg=PA132 |title=Vaisnavism |date=30 November 1994 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=9788120812352 |page=132}}</ref>{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=193}}

After a short stay at [[Kumbakonam]], he went on a pilgrimage to [[Rameswaram]], [[Ramnad]], [[Srirangam]], and [[Mathura]]. Later, he moved westwards to [[Udupi]] and Subramanya, and then to [[Pandharpur]], [[Kolhapur]] and [[Bijapur]]. At [[Kolhapur]], he is said to have stayed for a long time and at [[Bijapur]], he supposedly defeated many [[Advaitin]]s and converted them to [[Dvaita]] fold.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=483}} After that, he returned  to [[Kumbakonam]]. By 1663 he left for [[Mysore]]  where he got a grant from Dodda Devaraya Odeyar. Finally, he chose to settle down in [[Mantralayam]].{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=484}}

Raghavendra Tirtha entered brindavana in 1671 in [[Mantralayam]], a village on the bank of river Tungabhadra in [[Adoni]] taluk in [[Andhra Pradesh]].{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=484}}

==Works==
About 45 works written in Sanskrit are attributed to Raghavendra Tirtha.{{Sfn|Rao|1966|p=85}}{{Sfn|Rao|2015|p=325}} Sharma notes that his works are characterised by their compactness, simplicity and their ability to explain the abstruse metaphysical concepts of [[Dvaita]] in understandable terms.{{Sfn|Rao|1966|p=85}}{{Sfn|Rao|2015|p=325}}{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=282}}

His ''Tantradipika'' is an interpretation of the [[Brahma Sutra]] from the standpoint of [[Dvaita]], incorporating elements from [[Jayatirtha|Jayatirtha's]] ''Nyaya Sudha'', [[Vyasatirtha|Vyasatirtha's]] ''Tatparya Chandrika'' and the glosses by [[Vijayendra Tirtha]].{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=282}} ''Bhavadipa'' is a commentary on Jayatirtha's ''Tattva Prakasika'' which, apart from elucidating the concepts of the source text, criticises the allegations against [[Madhva]] raised by [[Appaya Dikshita]] and grammarian [[Bhattoji Dikshita]]. Raghavendra Tirtha's expertise in [[Purva Mimamsa]] and [[Vyakarana]] is evident from his works on Vyasatirtha's ''Tatparya Chandrika'', which runs up to 18,000 stanzas. He wrote a commentary on ''Nyaya Sudha'' titled ''Nyaya Sudha Parimala''.{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=285}} Apart from these works, he wrote commentaries on the [[Upanishads]], first three chapters of [[Rig Veda|Rigveda]] (called ''Mantramanjari'') and [[Bhagvad Gita|Bhagavad Gita]]. As an independent treatise, he wrote a commentary on [[Jaimini Sutras]] called ''Bhatta Sangraha'', which seeks to interpret the Purva Mimamsa doctrines from a Dvaita perspective.{{Sfn|Pandurangi|2004}}

== The Legend of Raghavendra Tirtha and Sir Thomas Munro ==
A legend about Raghavendra Tirtha and [[Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet|Sir Thomas Munro]] was recorded by W. Francis, an Indian civil servant to British India, in 1916, more than 100 years after it happened.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Francis W. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.1430 |title=Madras District Gazetteers Bellary Vol-i (1916) |date=1916 |publisher=The Superintendent, Madras |pages=213}}</ref> The legend as follows: After Sir Thomas Munro was appointed as principal collector for the district of Bellary in 1800,<ref>{{Cite book |last=K. Abhishankar |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.07360 |title=Bellary District Gazetteer |date=1972 |publisher=State Government of Karnataka |pages=87}}</ref> he went to collect the taxes on Mantralaya (Mantsala). It was said that Raghavendra Tirtha appeared from the tomb and spoke with Thomas Munroe while the saint was invisible and inaudible to others. Munroe was convinced and went back to his camp and instructed to keep the endowment of Mantralaya Mutt. Direct documentations of this incident are missing. {{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==In popular culture==
Raghavendra Tirtha has been eulogised by Narayanacharya in his contemporaneous biography ''Raghavendra Vijaya'' and a hymn ''Raghavendra Stotra'' by Appannacharya. Outside the confines of [[Dvaita]], he is regarded as a saint known for preaching the worship of [[Vishnu]] regardless of caste or creed.{{Sfn|Rao|2015|p=85}} 

Hebbar notes "By virtue of his spiritual charisma, coupled with the innumerable miracles associated with him, the pontiff saint may very well be said to possess an independent and cosmopolitan cult of his own with his devotees hailing not only from all walks of life but from all castes, sects and even creeds as well".{{sfn|Hebbar|2004|p=230}} His humanitarianism is evident in the devotional poems composed in his honour by [[Vijaya Dasa]], [[Gopala Dasa]] and [[Jagannatha Dasa (Kannada poet)|Jagannatha Dasa]].{{Sfn|Sharma|1961|p=281}}

Raghavendra has also seen representation in the popular culture through [[Indian Cinema]]:

{| class="wikitable"
|-  style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! Year !! Film !! Title role !! Director !! Language !! Notes
|-
| 1966 || ''[[Mantralaya Mahatme]]'' || [[Dr. Rajkumar]] || T. V. Singh Thakur || [[Kannada]] || The song from the film titled "Indu Enage Govinda" was written by Raghavendra himself
|-
| 1980 || ''Sri Raghavendra Vaibhava'' || [[Srinath (Kannada actor)|Srinath]] || Babu Krishnamurthy || [[Kannada]] || Srinath won [[Karnataka State Film Award]] for Best Actor for the film
|-
| 1981 || ''Mantralaya Sri Raghavendra Vaibhavam'' || [[Ramakrishna (Telugu actor)|Rama Krishna]] || M. R. Nag || [[Telugu language|Telugu]] || Ramakrishna's last film as a Hero in Telugu
|-
| 1985 || ''[[Sri Raghavendrar]]'' || [[Rajnikanth]] || SP. Muthuraman || [[Tamil language|Tamil]] || The film was [[Rajnikanth|Rajnikanth's]] 100th
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last= Aiyangar|first=Krishnaswami |title =Sources of Vijayanagar History |url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924024120150|year=1919|publisher= University of Madras|edition=|location= Chennai|isbn= }}
*{{cite book|title=According to Tradition: Hagiographical Writing in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrMwdEqHLzEC|first=Winand M.|last=Callewaert|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|year=1994|isbn=978-3447035248}}
* {{cite book|title = The Sri Krsna Temple at Udupi|first = B.N| last = Hebbar| publisher=Nataraj Books |isbn = 978-1881338505 | year=2004 | url=https://archive.org/details/SriKrsnaTempleAtUdupi?q=vijayindra+tirtha}}
*{{cite book|title= The Sri-Krsna Temple at Udupi: The History and Spiritual Center of the Madhvite Sect of Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/SriKrsnaTempleAtUdupi|first=B.N|last=Hebbar|publisher=Bharatiya Granth Nikethan|year=2005|isbn=81-89211-04-8}}
*{{cite book |last= Pandurangi|first= K.T|title =Bhatta Sangraha |year=2004|publisher= Dvaita Vedanta Studies and Research Foundation|edition=|location= Bengaluru|isbn= }}
*{{cite book |last= Rao|first= Krishna, M.V |title =Purandara and the Haridasa Movement |year=1966|publisher= Karnatak University|edition=|location= Dharwad|isbn= }}
*{{cite book|title=The Proceedings Of The Indian History Congress 8th Session|page=|first=Raghavendra|last=Rao|publisher=The General Secretary Indian History Congress Allahabad|year=2015|isbn=}}
*{{cite book |last= Sharma|first= B.N.K|title =History of Dvaita school of Vedanta and its Literature, Vol 2. |year=1961|publisher= Motilal Banarasidass|edition=3rd|location= Bombay|isbn= 81-208-1575-0}}
* {{cite book|title = A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, 3rd Edition|first = B. N. Krishnamurti| last = Sharma| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (2008 Reprint) |isbn = 978-8120815759| year= 2000 }}
*{{cite book|title=Saints, gurus and mystics of India|volume=2|page=473|first=Giriraj|last=Shah|publisher=Cosmo Publications|year=1999|ref=none|isbn=978-81-7020-856-3}}
==External links==
*[http://www.srsmatha.org/ Official website of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt Mantralayam]

==Further reading==
*[https://archive.org/details/RaghavendraVijayam Raghavendra Vijaya: A Biography of Raghavendra Tirtha]

{{Madhva Religious Figures}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavendra}}
[[Category:1595 births]]
[[Category:17th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Madhva religious leaders]]
[[Category:Dvaita Vedanta]]
[[Category:People from Cuddalore district]]
[[Category:Dvaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:1671 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu saints]]
[[Category:Scholars from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian scholars]]