Sri Sacchidananda Bharati I
[10] Sachchidananda Bharati soon acquired mastery over the Vedas and shastras and visited many famous shrines including Madurai Meenakshi Temple.
It can be observed from his biography that he lived in Madurai and Melmangalam village also for a short period during his Brahmacharya and learned the Vedas and Sastras there.
But the then Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Narasimha Bharati, who was also from the same Batlagundu region [11][12] advised him in favor of celibacy and persuaded him to become a sanyasin (Hindu monk).
[15][16] When he ascended the pontificial chair, the southern part of India was beset with civil war and turmoil.
Many authors have referred in their articles to a notable verse in the Rama Bhujanga which means that this Bhujangam (snake) is said to drive away the lust and anger (rats) when it is enshrined in one's heart.
[52] The river Vaigai takes a slightly northern course (Tamil: உத்தரவாஹினீ, Sanskrit: उत्तरवाहिनी also known as Ganga (Ganges) in Varanasi) near this village.
The author R Krishnaswamy Iyer has made an anecdotal reference in the foreword of Part-II, regarding the visit, the holy dip of the 35th pontiff in the point of confluence of these rivers, His visit to old Koti Mukteeswarar temple here, performance of His daily Sri Sarada Chandramouleeswara Puja in this nearby village and His benedictory talk on the significance of this area (Sthalam (Tamil: ஸ்தலம்)" (Sanskrit: स्थलम्) in 1965.
[53] The Jayanthi is celebrated in this Kunnuvarankottai Kasi Visalakshi-Viswanathar temple as per the advice and benedictions of 35th pontiff (refer His talk above) every year by devotees from 1965.
This temple was near the point of confluence of the three rivers before it is believed by the locals to have been damaged by natural calamities (like floods).
The current village settlement and temple of Lord Visalakshi Viswanathar half-a-kilometre away is believed to have been reconstructed after the damage done by natural calamities (like floods).
The inscription further states that a group of eighteen merchants guild was responsible for collection of taxes from the traders transporting goods.
The article mentions about a very rare sculpture in the outer temple wall that depicts the capital punishment meted out to the criminals during that age.
Thus, this is connected to the Pandyan Kingdom due to the name of the Lord Siva temple (Madurai Udaya Eswaran) and also the sculpture resembling Pandya architecture.
From the study, this port served the local merchants to transport goods to the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom which is Madurai.
The early part of the 14th century saw the gradual decline of the Pandya dynasty resulting in the repeated invasions of the South Indian Kingdoms by the Delhi Sultanate.
Malik Kafur marched south, ransacking kingdoms in central and Southern India on the way to Madurai .
He marched into Madurai, sacking the town, paralysing trade, suppressing public worship, and making civilian life miserable.
There were a series of Vijayanagar invasions in the middle of the fourteenth century which succeeded in initially restricting and finally ending the Madurai Sultanate's rule over Madurai.Vijayanagar's armies were led by Bukka's son Kumara Kampanna Udaiyar and Veera Savanan.
The immediate effect of this victory was the reopening of the Siva and Vishnu temples in the cities of Madurai, Srirangam, Chidambaram and Kanchipuram in the southern region.
King Krishna Devaraya (1509–1529), the greatest ruler of the Vijayanagar dynasty, exercised close control over this part of his empire.
The Pandyan kingdom was divided into 72 palayams by the King Viswanatha Nayaka (1529-1563) and his minister Ariyanatha Mudaliar.
Viswanatha Nayaka and Ariyanatha Mudaliar rebuilt and renovated the Madurai Meenkashi temple along with the thousand pillared hall.
The foreword written by Shri K.R Venkatraman, editor of Sankara Krupa in the biography of Sri Sachchidananda Bharati I mentions about this history of Madurai also and the renovation of Madurai Meenakshi temple by the Kings Muttu Virappa Nayaka and Thirumala Nayak under the minister-ship of Shri Neelakanda Deekshithar.
During the period of Thirumalai Nayaka (1623–59), Sri Sachidananda Bharathi-I was ordained as the peetadhipathi of Sringeri Sarada Peetam.
His minister Neelakanta Deekshithar[65] built the pudu mandapam and reestablished the pujas for the deities in the Madurai Meenakshi temple as per the puranas like "Haalaasya Mahatmiyam" and agama rules.
