The Brindavana (tomb) of Sri Vyasaraja Tirtha, Rajaguru of Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadevaraya was vandalised by unknown persons on Thursday and is now being reconstructed by the devotees. Saint Vyasaraja Tirtha (1490-1539) was a renowned Madhwa scholar and was the spiritual guru for Sri Krishnadevaraya, the most famous emperor of Vijayanagar empire. It is said that the Nava Brindavana dates back to 700 years and the Vyasaraja entered the Brindavan (tomb) in 1539. The Brindavana is situated in Anegundi near the Hampi world heritage site. It was one among the nine Brindavans (of the nine saints of the tradition) at the Nava Brindavan Gadde (island) premises on the bank of River Tungabhadra. The vandalising of the Brindavana had come to light on Thursday morning when a few devotees visited the site to perform rituals after the lunar eclipse. The devotees immediately alerted the local police and with the help of locals and various mathas, the devotees have begun rebuilding the Brindavana using; jaggery water, lime, sand and traditional construction materials and without using cement or concrete. “According to an initial investigation, we suspect that this may be the act of treasure-hunters. After receiving the alert about the incident we rushed to the spot and found some puja material on the spot. It shows that the miscreants have offered some kind of puja before vandalising the Brindavana. The special team has been formed which is headed by a Circle Inspector to crack the case,” says Renuka K. Sukumar, Superintendent of Police, Koppal. Reacting to the vandalising of the Brindavan, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted, “It's shocking and disheartening that the holy Vrindhavan of Sri Vyasraja is demolished in Anegundi, Navavridhavan. I have instructed Koppal SP to immediately arrest the miscreants and provide the security to the holy place.” In a similar case, four youths vandalised a UNESCO world heritage site in Hampi in February 2019. A video clip showing them damaging a carved stone pillar at a UNESCO world heritage went viral on social media. Later, they were tracked down by police using an Instagram post, have been fined Rs 70,000 each and asked to participate in Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) restoration of the five stone pillars they damaged.
