Anjanadri is birthplace of Anjaneya Swamy, says Courtallam seer

Tirupati: The pontiff of Courtallam Siddheswara Peetham Sri Siddheswarananda Bharati Mahaswami affirmed that the Valmiki Ramayana had clearly mentioned Anjanadri of Tirumala as the birthplace of Sri Anjaneya Swamy.

He was addressing a two-day international webinar hosted jointly by the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Higher Vedic Studies of TTD and National Sanskrit University which commenced on Friday in Tirupati.

Participating in the webinar Sri Siddheswarananda Bharati Mahaswami said the Brahmanda Puranam also affirmed the fact in addition to other Puranas which hail Anjanadri as the birthplace of Sri Anjaneya.

He said the Kishkinda theory lacked puranic and traditional support materials and persons who had no knowledge of Puranas were unfit to talk and make comments on the holy concept.

In his presidential address, TTD EO Dr KS Jawahar Reddy said soon after he took charge at Tirumala, he received several e-mails about Anjaneya Swamy birthplace and when he posed them to pundits and learned persons they too concurred and provided puranic evidences.

He said the TTD had set up a Pundits Parishad in December 2020 for comprehensive research on Puranas, history, geographic and archaeological data and affirm Anjanadri as the birthplace of Hanuman.

The pundit Parishad also visited locations in Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra wherever locals claimed as the birthplace of Hanuman. Finally on the auspicious day of Sri Ramanavami day on April 21 this year, the TTD published a booklet with all authoritative evidences gathered by the Pundits Parishad. The report was kept open for public debate inviting suggestions, objections etc.

The TTD also organised meetings with a few but their unparliamentarily approach and the language they used was condemnable.

The TTD is ready to conduct another round of debate, if necessary to remove misconceptions etc. Speaking on the occasion Dean of Mahindra University Law college Dr Madabushi Sridhar said there was enough proof of Anjanadri as Hanuman birthplace including an Oxford university publication of 2007 - "Hanuman's Came". The reference to Anjanadri has been there decades ahead of the TTD study, he added.

Acharya V Muralidhar Sharma, Chairman of TTD pundits Parishad and the Vice-Chancellor of National Sanskrit University said the webinar was being conducted to spread data on the findings of TTD Pundits Parishad which will soon be brought out in form of a book. He said without Puranas the concept of Indianism will be blank. Jeeva director Acharya Samudrala Ranga Ramanuja Charyulu said everyone should read and digest the content of Puranas, Venkatachala Mahatyam, Venkatachala Itihasamala etc. for more information on Anjaneya birthplace.

Among others Pune Deccan College Project Director Acharya Vempati Kutumba Rao, ASI retired Director Dr K Muniratnam, Acharya Shankar Narayana, Ex-Deputy Director of Archaeology and Museum, Sri Jadhav Vijay Kumar, A Prasanna Kumar of Center for policy studies, Sanskrit scholar E Singaracharyulu and history researchers Gopikrishna also spoke in the marathon webinar.