Samsthaapaka
Sri Ganesh Bhat, the founder of the temple, was born in 1947, the year India got independence from the British, as the son of late Sri Venkappa Bhat, who was the hereditary priest of Seeme Mukhyapraana Devaru at Gerusoppa. He was a scholar in Veda, Samskrutha, and Jyotishya. At the age of 32, he crossed the Sharavathi and came to stay at Bangaramakki.
Responding to his inner call, he decided to build a temple for Hanuman in fulfilment of the wishes of Avadhuta Bhagavan Sridhar Swamy of Varadahalli, whom he had always held in reverence. He brought home a statue of Veeranjaneya under Jalaadhivaasa for 15 years in a village near Mirjan in Kumta Taluk in 1981 and started worshipping it at his home. In 1986, the temple was built and the statue was installed in the temple. He had been ordained by his father to continue the family tradition of “Darshana,” giving solace to people who come to the feet of Anjaneya seeking solutions to their problems.
In 1997, he anointed his son Sri Maruthi Guruji as the Trustee and priest of the Veeranjaneya Temple founded by him. Later, in 2000, he ordained Sri Maruthi Guruji to carry on the family tradition of Darshana. Since then, he lived like a saint, engaged in spiritual Saadhanaa. He breathed his last on 28 December 2003, plunging thousands of devotees of Sri Veeranjaneya into sorrow.
Dharmadhikari Sri Maruthi Guruji
Sri Maruthi Guruji, the visionary behind the present development and activities of Sri Kshethra, Bangaramakki, was born in 1978 as the second of three sons of Smt. Gangabai and Sri Ganesh Bhat, the hereditary priest of Sri Veeranjaneya Kshethra at Bangaramakki, on the banks of the River Sharavathi in Karnataka. He switched over to the study of Sanskrit Grammar and the Veda after completing secondary school and holds a Master’s degree in the subject. In 1997, when he was just 19 years old, he was anointed as the Dharmadhikari of Sri Veeranjaneya Kshethra by his father, even while he was still a student. In 2000, he was ordained to continue the four-hundred-year-long tradition of spiritual counseling for devotees through Darshana. In 2002, he founded two trusts, Sri Veeranjaneya Religious & Charitable Trust® and Sri Veeranjaneya Educational & Charitable Trust® for the philanthropic channelization of devotees’ offerings and initiated various charitable activities among the people. He founded the CELECT Foundation® in 2011.
He is a source of inspiration to children, youth, and elders alike, both for spiritual advancement and socio-economic development. As a result, Bangaramakki has now become one of the most sought-after places for holding training camps organized by various institutions such as NSS, Vidya Poshak, Scouts and Guides, and others.
