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A paratpara guru from Tamil Nadu, Shri Guru Raghavedra Swami was a sixteenth-century saint. He is looked upon in India as a powerful advocate of Vaishnavism and the dvaita philosophy of Shri Madhavacharya. Having emerged from the tutelage of Lakshminarasimhacharya of Madurai, who was his brother-in-law, Maharaj was an accomplished scholar. His brilliance was the talk of the town at Kumbhakonam, where he went to pursue higher studies after his wedding to the noblewoman Sarasvati.The sculpture you see on this page depicts the Maharaja at the zenith of His scholarship and sanyasa, which he was ordained to at the behest of his guru, Shri Sudheendra Theertharu. He is seated in ardha-padmasana, with one hand resting on the knee and another keeping count of the rosary. The Vaishnavite tilak graces his brow, a mark of His profound spiritual allegiance. It is said that it is owing to the same that he was able to perform a number of miracles at Poorvashrama and Tanjore. Note the uninhibited gaze of His eyes and the image of Lord Vishnu carved against his breast.
