Miscellaneous

13th Century Saint Narahari Tīrtha’s Idol

January 9 , 2025 10 hrs 0 min 63 0

A researcher has found a three-foot idol of the 13th Century saint, Narahari Tīrtha recently.
He may have hailed from the Chikakolu town (the present Srikakulam.
Tirtha’s ancestors were aristocrats in the Gajapati empire in what is now the Odisha state.
Available epigraphical evidence suggests that the kings of Eastern Ganga dynasty were assisted by the saint for three decades.
This was indicating he was already ordained into the fourth order by Acharya Madhva then.
His contributions on this front are well documented in inscriptions available in the Simhachalam and Srikurmam (Srikakulam) temples.
Some honorific prefixes were being used along with the name of this saint are: ‘Loka Suraksḥaṇa Ati Nipuṇaḥ’, ‘Yo Avati Kalinga Bhu Sambhavān’.