The Karnataka connection of Ramanujacharya Samata Kendra

The newest spiritual-tourist attraction in Telangana – a vast temple complex on 45 acres, with a 216-feet Ramanujacharya statue in the centre – has a Karnataka connection.

While the four entrances of Sriramanujacharya Samata-Kendram are shaped in Kakatiya style, the ornate thoranam, just beside the archways are in the form of two “Hampi-rathas.”

These chariots made of sandstone are inspired by the iconic stone chariot at the Vijaya-Vittala temple complex in Hampi, a Unesco world heritage site in Vijayanagara
district.

However, the ratha in the Sriramanujacharya Samata-kendram has the vimanam, which is missing in the original structure.

“Hampi ratha is epochal of the great Vijayanagara style of temple architecture. But it now appears without the upper column. We designed the tower based on some photos from 1856, taken during British rule. Each of the two chariots are 31 feet in height,” D N V Prasad, pradhana stapati (chief architect) of the Sriramanujacharya Kendram, told DH.

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The Hampi-rathas here also have another variation from the original, an image of which can be found on the Rs 50 note of Indian currency.

In place of two elephants, with their trunks broken, standing guard at the short staircase, one elephant larger in size stands in-front of each chariot at the Samata-kendram.

The structure of pillars of the ‘108’ divya-deshas in the complex – symbolizing the ‘108 sacred’ shrines across the country like Tirupati, Srirangam, Badrinath, Dwaraka – is in the Hoysala architectural style. The black marble stone used for the 468 pillars is from Rajasthan.

“To construct these divya-deshas around the Sriramanujacharya statue, we visited all those temples, each one with unique architecture and sculptures. Each sanctum, source pillar, and the main idols are modeled according to the respective original temple,” the architect said.

A 50-foot Vijaya-stambham (victory pillar) is erected outside the complex entrance, facing the statue. A 77-tonne stone was brought from Krishnarajapuram near Bengaluru for the purpose, which thinned down to 30 tonne after molding.

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