Sri Veeramangala Anjaneya temple is situated on the banks of Khushasthala river in Nallatoor village Tiruttani taluk en route to Tirupathi, this temple was said to be almost 500 years old and having an idol of Sree Vera Mangala Anjaneyaswami, this rarely used temple is located amidst an exotic collection of beautiful trees set against a backdrop of mountains. Nallatoor village is renowned for the devotion and traditional culture of Hindutva.
It is said that Veera Anjaneya swami temple was constructed by the 15th-century saint cum guru Sri Vyasaraya Swamigal who was also the guru of the Vijayanagara empire of those days. In the line of distinguished paramahamsas established by the illustrious saint- philosopher Sri Madhvacharya, Sri Vyasa thirtha (1447-1539 AD) a saint par excellence, later became the royal preceptor of the King Krishnadevaraya one of the most enlightened and benevolent ruler of Vijayanagara empire, Sri Vyasa Tirtha also known as Sri Vyasa Raja(Sri Vyasa Raja Swami) was credit with popularising the worship of Lord Hanuman in the south.
Sri Vyasa Raya Swamigal installed the famous Yantroddara Hanuman at Hampi and established 732 temples dedicated to Sri Hanuman, in different parts of south India. Out of these only a few temples continue to attract devotees.
Nallatoor Temple Timings:
Morning: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Evening: 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Nallatoor Hanuman Temple History:
History has it that during the lifetime of Sri Vyasarayar Swamigal, he was saint cum guru to six emperors of the Vijayanagar dynasty, Sri Krishnadevaraya was the fifth emperor.
It is said that an astrologer predicted that the emperor may die early or his kingdom may ruin abruptly. Due to this prediction, the emperor himself had become a saint and Sri Veera Mangala Anjaneya handed over the entire Vijayanagara Kingdom to Vyasaraya Swamigal and became a disciple of the Swamigal. Though Sri Swamigal was not interested in becoming king, he was forced to accept the offer from the emperor, the same day after becoming the King Sri Vyasarayar Swamigal was asleep in the bed of Krishnadevaraya. A king cobra entered the bedroom with an intention to kill the emperor. Sri Vyasarayar woke up removed his robe and threw it on the floor while chanting hanuman slokas.
The king cobra became wild and struck the robe twice. suddenly the robe turned to ashes. Immediately, Sri Swamigal called upon Sri Krishnadevaraya and told him that the dosha surrounding him was eliminated forever, after which he was again sworn in as the king of Vijayanagara empire since the empire was in the hands of Swamigal one day, people started addressing him as Sri Vyasaraja Swamigal.
Sri Vyasaraja Swamigal strongly believed that he escaped from death due to chanting of hanuman slokas and started constructing Anjaneya temples all over the south.
It is learned that the temple at Nallatoor came about under totally different circumstances. Sri has decided to establish an Anjaneya swami temple at Tirupathi.
Sri Swamigal was carrying an idol of Anjaneya from Tiruttsni to Tirupathi by walk via Nallatoor village. By the time he reached the banks of river Khushasthala river, it was dusk therefore the Swamigal decided to stay on the banks to perform sandhya vandhanam.
Only two days were left to establish the Anjaneya idol at Tirupathi. but the same evening there was a big typhoon that caused floods across Khushasthala river, preventing the Swamigal from crossing the river for 15 days.
Depressed, the Swamigal questioned Sri Anjaneya Swamigal during pooja about these interruptions. Immediately Sri Anjaneya appeared before Sri Swamigal and instructed him to build a temple at that place itself and install the idols. Sri Anjaneya also told him that he himself had created the natural calamities.
It can be observed from the idol of Sri Veera Anjaneya that he is walking towards Tirupathi with the face looking towards the direction of Tirupathi. Centuries went by burying these historical stories and the temple leaving behind only ruins. A handful of disciples of Sri Anjaneya belonging to Nallatoor village performs pooja once in a year. Till 1997…
Sri Anjaneya appeared in a dream to Mr. M.Chakravarthi (Executive director Amaravati hotels group) while on a trip to Delhi and instructed him to reconstruct the temple and arrange all facilities to perform daily poojas without any limitations.
Not a regular visitor to temples and holy places, Chakravarthy was quite perplexed at this phenomenon and decided to consult authoritative sources about his eligibility in lineage to undertake the construction of this temple.
Having verified all the necessary records, he took on the gigantic task of reconstruction with the help of close friends and associates had completed the work in a record period of 8 months. Sri Veera Anjaneya Swami temple, housing the centuries-old idol of Sree Anjaneya, keeps company with Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana – Hanaumathsematha temple and a Ganesh temple along with Navagraha idols.
The entire complex of about 20,000 sqft. was opened to devotes after performing Kumbabhishekam by Kanchipuram Varadarja temple chief priest Sri Srinivasa Pattar.
A keen observation of Nallatoor Anjaneya Swami idol:
- One hand of idol opens towards the sky as if giving ashirwad to devotees.
- The other hand holding a holy flower called Sowgandigai.
- The tail of the idol goes over its head and at the end of the tail is a resemblance of the “OM” symbol.
- 10 avatars engraved behind the idol.
- A bell hangs at the end of the tail
- The idol wears a necklace containing navarathnas.
All these features are common in all Anjaneya idols at temples constructed by Sri Vyasarayar Swamigal.