The samadhi or final resting place of Guru Sri Raghavendra Swamy is known as Brindavana and is located at Mantralayam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Guru Raghavendra Swamy spend his last eventful days at Mantralayam before entering the brindavana alive. Raghavendra Swamy entered brindavana on Virodhikruth Nama Samvatsara Shravan Krishna Paksha Dwitiya tithi (second day during the waning or dark phase of moon in Shravan month) in 1671 CE.
Sri Raghavendra Swamy spent his entire life popularizing Dwaita philosophy propounded by Sri Madhvacharya.
Brindavana was constructed under his own supervision in a place chosen by him.
The reasons for choosing a spot in Manchala village (later known as Mantralayam) for erecting his brindavana were, according to the swami himself, that he had during his previous birth as Prahlada in the Satya Yuga performed a yagna there and the place was so divine as to offer success always as evidenced by the great fight put by Anusulya agains teh mighty Pandavas in the Dwapara Yuga. Also, he love do have his brindavana near the temple for Manchalamma, his tutelary deity in his previous birth of Prahlada.
A homa kunda (place where yajna was conducted) is said to have existed in ancient times at the spot the sage chose for his Brindavana. To make the place holy, he procured from neighboring Madhavaram village a slab from the rock on which Bhagavan Sri Rama had rested while searching for Mata Sita in the forest during his Dandakaranya period of exile in the Ramayana.
Raghavendra Swamy supervised the chiseling of the slab to the size and collection of other materials for his final resting place. A figure of Vayu Bhagavan was sculpted on the slab.
On the second day the dark phase of moon in Shravan month (Shravan Krishna Paksha Dwitiya tithi as per traditional Kannada and Telugu calendar), the sage went through his daily rituals and delivered his last discourse to a large gathering of devotees.
“I would be parting only my body but would be present physically to safeguard the welfare of all” was the last message Guru Sri Raghavendra Swamy gave before entering into the Brindavana.
He sang the famous soul-stirring song in Kannada ‘Indu Enage Govinda,’ before entering Brindavana.
After the stone slabs were placed all around him, Guru asked his followers to keep 1200 saligramam (s) over his head and close the top portion of the brindavana with soil.
Today millions of pilgrims, cutting across manmade religious and caste barriers, visit Brindavana seeking the blessing of Raghavendra Swamy.
A popular belief among devotees is that nobody would go empty-handed from his abode or nobody would go without their wishes fulfilled from the temple housing his brindavana.