Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c14.9

c14.9

The revival of Vishnu worship was due in great measure to the Vaishnava reformer Rāmānujāchārya, also called Emberumānār,¹ who, at the beginning of the twelfth century, took refuge from Chōla persecution in the Mysore country, where he converted from Jainism the Hoysala king Biṭṭi-Dēva, thenceforward called by the name Vishnuvarddhana. Rāmānuja established the Yatirāja maṭha at Mēlukōte (see Sr 64), and received a large tract of land on both banks of the Kāvērī near Seringapatam, named the Ashṭagrāma or eight townships. For the management of his affairs he appointed the Fifty-two. These were Śrīvaishnavas, and his first disciples.