Sankara Mutt at Kumbakonam
It has been mentioned before that the 62nd Acharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal had moved the mutt premises from Kanchipuram to Kumbakonam due to the Carnatic war happening near Kanchi. Tanjore was then ruled by Maratha kings. King Pratapasimha’s minister Dabeer Bandh built this mutt and four agraharams around it in the south banks of the Cauveri river. There used to be coconut trees in this place, before a skeleton mutt was built in a hurry to accommodate
the then Swamigal.
In the year 1820, then king Saraboji Maharaja built a sanctum sanctorum for then Swamigal’s puja behind that mutt. The document describing the event can still be found in the left frontal wall. The old buildings grew badly in need of repair with the passing years. Swamigal wished to renovate the mutt after the completion of the Thiruvanaikal mutt in the year 1923. The effort was spearheaded by the then mutt manager and lawyer K.Kuppuswamy Iyer. He was assisted by Theperumalnallur Sivan in this effort. Diwan D.N.Muthiah Chettiar of Pudukottai donated Rs.25,000/- for the renovation. Rs.75,000/- more was funneled from the mutt’s income and directed toward the renovation of the Kumbakonam mutt. The renovation task was completed in the year 1933 under the supervision of Sivan.
After six years, more construction was undertaken to a kitchen, a private room for Swamigal and Gosala. The key people involved in completing these tasks were Kumbakonam Dr.R.Mahalinga Iyer’s father Ex-Thasildar Ramamurthy Iyer and Gopala Iyer – son of Deputy Collector A.Krishnaswamy Iyer of Dabeer Road, Kumbakonam.
They were able to finish this with the help of donations from various devotees including Ramanathapuram Raja and Kollankodu Rani.
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