Visit to Bichchale or Bichali

Bichchale or Bichali or Bhikshaalaya is the place where Guru Raghavendra Swamy’s greatest devotee Sri Appanacharya lived. It is here that  Guru Raghavendra Swamy stayed with Sri Appanacharya for 13 years. Bichchale is situated in the district of Raichur, Karnataka. Bhikshaalaya is on the bank of Tungabhadra River.

Another look at the River Thungabhadra. This is exactly the place where Sri Appanacharyaru jumped into the river and started singing PurnaBhodha stotra the moment he came to know his beloved Rayaru had entered brindavana. The most famous Rayara Stotra.

Like I mentioned, Guru Raghavendra Swamy spent 13 years staying with Sri Appanacharya. The house where Rayaru stayed is in Bichchale as well.

Within the house they have marked a space showing where our beloved Rayaru slept. The house was completely destroyed in 2009 floods.

Next to this room is another room where they have Lord Hanuman installed by Sri Appanacharya. In this room they do have the original picture of Rayaru, which I have posted a long time back.

Like I have mentioned in many many posts, our Rayaru liked Channa Dal Chutney very much. Sri Appanacharya used to prepare channa dal chtuney using this stone grinder called Varalu in Kannada.

You can see a close-up of the same here:

Bichchale is also a very sacred place which was visited by Sree Sripada Rajaru and Sree Vyasa Rajaru. They have idols installed by both of them here. Take a look.

And Lord  Lakshmi Narashima installed by Sree Sripada Rajaru.

And below is the Idol of Lord Prana Devaru- Hanuman by Sree Vyasa Rajaru

There is also an idol installed by Sree Raghavendra Swamy.

There is also the place where our beloved Rayaru did Japa for 13 years.

And finally, we have the Brindavana created by Sri Appanacharya for Sree Raghavendra Swamy.

And the Brindavana:

Another look at the brindavana from the front: