Yantrodharaka Hanuman Temple, Hampi: The Unique Form Of Lord Hanuman Seated In A Yantra!

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The Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple in Hampi, Karnataka holds special significance for many unique religious facts. It is also known as the Pranadeva temple. This temple stands on a hilltop on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in Hampi.

The uniqueness of the Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple, Hampi

The Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple, Hampi is special for the fact that it is the place where Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman met for the first time on the Malyavana hill during the Ramayana period. The idol of Lord Hanuman is engraved on a granite boulder. The uniqueness of the idol is that Lord Hanuman is unusually seen sitting in Padmasana and more strangely in the centre of a chakra. Hence Lord Hanuman is addressed here as Yantrodharaka Hanuman.

The idol of Lord Hanuman installed by Sri Vyasaraja Tirtha, a Madhwa saint, depicts the Vyakhyanamudra in the right hand and Dyanamudra in the left hand. Furthermore there are carvings of twelve monkeys, holding each other's tails and facing backwards on the yantra. This depicts the twelve days of prayers that Sri Vyasaraja was engaged in before he was blessed by Lord Hanuman.

The history of Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple

The history of the Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple is intriguing having seen the uniqueness of the religious facts associated with it. Its speciality of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman's connection and the special significance owing to the idol of Lord Hanuman seated in Padmasana in the centre of a Yantra stokes the interest in the minds of the religious.

The history of Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple, Hampi has it that Sri Vyasaraja Tirtha used to meditate everyday on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. Once while he was steeped in meditation an image of Lord Hanuman kept coming to his mind. That night, he had a dream wherein he was instructed to install an idol of Lord Hanuman in the spot where he meditated during the day. The next day in order to capture the form of Lord Hanuman, Sri Vyasaraja Tirtha drew the image on the rock. But to his surprise the image of a monkey jumped out of it and his drawing vanished. The saint patiently pursued his endeavour in drawing the form of Lord Hanuman for twelve times and at all times the images sprang out of the rock and his drawing vanished.

Saint Vyasaraja Tirtha in order to retain the disappearing image of Lord Hanuman, drew a yantra around the image before it could vanish and confined Lord Hanuman within it. Hence Lord Hanuman in Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple, Hampi is seen sitting in Padmasana in the centre of a Yantra.

Sri Vyasaraja Tirtha, out of his ecstasy, extolled Lord Hanuman in a stotram called the Yantrodharaka Hanuman Stotram following this incident. Later a temple was built in this place near the Kodandarama temple to mark the meeting of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman here for the first time. Let us invoke the grace of Yantrodharaka Hanuman and gain his blessings.