Talk:The Āḻvār Saints:Bhadrācala Rāmadāsa
By Vishal Agarwal
In the 16th century CE, ʿAbdul Ḥasan Tānishāh, the ruler of the Golconda kingdom (covering parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India), imposed the Jazīya tax on Hindus to persuade them to convert to Islam. In the district of Bhadrachalam, his tax collector was ironically a Brāhmaṇa named Gopanna, who was a great devotee of Rāma. Gopanna dutifully served his master, taxing his fellow Hindus. He became wealthy, but spent most of his income feeding poor devotees of Rāma.
One night, Bhagavān Rāma appeared to him in a dream and asked him to construct a new temple for Him in Bhadrachalam so that His devotees could worship Him fearlessly. Construction of a grand Hindu temple in a Muslim kingdom was unthinkable, but nevertheless, Gopanna started going around collecting funds for the mandir. Everyone refused to give him any money, offering various excuses, until an old man rebuked him, saying, “Aren’t you ashamed to ask for money for a Rāma mandir? You are the one who has been serving as a lackey to Tānishāh, who is fleecing us poor Hindus by forcing us to pay the Jazīya tax. And it is you who has been collecting the tax for him. You have betrayed your own people for your own fame, and now you dare to ask us for money for a Hindu mandir?”
The old man’s words stung Gopanna’s heart, and he came up with a plan. He began to secretly take small amounts from his tax collections. In a few years, he had gathered enough to construct a grand Rāma mandir in Bhadrachalam.
When the news reached Tānishāh, he was furious. He ordered Gopanna to be imprisoned in the dungeons of the Golconda fort until he repaid the money he had taken from the royal tax treasury. For twelve long years, Gopanna languished in jail, and the devotees of Rāma began to call him “Bhadrachalam Rāmadasa,” meaning the servant of Rāma from Bhadrachalam.
Even while enduring torture in prison, Gopanna never lost his devotion. With his fingernails, he painstakingly scratched a picture of Bhagavān Rāma on the wall for worship, and composed beautiful hymns in His praise. One day, he suddenly saw Tānishāh come into the prison and fall at his feet, saying, “Please forgive me, Gopanna. I am releasing you immediately.”
Gopanna was astonished and asked what had caused the king’s change of heart after twelve long years. Tānishāh’s reply shocked him even more: “Yesterday night, two regal-looking princes visited me in my chamber. They were luminous, and their majesty was overwhelming. Indeed, they were Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, for they carried bows in their hands and looked truly Divine. They paid me the exact sum you had taken from my tax collection, and asked me to release you. I was so overpowered by their beauty and power that I have now become Their devotee.”
In the 16th century CE, ʿAbdul Ḥasan Tānishāh, the ruler of the Golconda kingdom (covering parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India), imposed the Jazīya tax on Hindus to persuade them to convert to Islam. In the district of Bhadrachalam, his tax collector was ironically a Brāhmaṇa named Gopanna, who was a great devotee of Rāma. Gopanna dutifully served his master, taxing his fellow Hindus. He became wealthy, but spent most of his income feeding poor devotees of Rāma.
One night, Bhagavān Rāma appeared to him in a dream and asked him to construct a new temple for Him in Bhadrachalam so that His devotees could worship Him fearlessly. Construction of a grand Hindu temple in a Muslim kingdom was unthinkable, but nevertheless, Gopanna started going around collecting funds for the mandir. Everyone refused to give him any money, offering various excuses, until an old man rebuked him, saying, “Aren’t you ashamed to ask for money for a Rāma mandir? You are the one who has been serving as a lackey to Tānishāh, who is fleecing us poor Hindus by forcing us to pay the Jazīya tax. And it is you who has been collecting the tax for him. You have betrayed your own people for your own fame, and now you dare to ask us for money for a Hindu mandir?”
The old man’s words stung Gopanna’s heart, and he came up with a plan. He began to secretly take small amounts from his tax collections. In a few years, he had gathered enough to construct a grand Rāma mandir in Bhadrachalam.
When the news reached Tānishāh, he was furious. He ordered Gopanna to be imprisoned in the dungeons of the Golconda fort until he repaid the money he had taken from the royal tax treasury. For twelve long years, Gopanna languished in jail, and the devotees of Rāma began to call him “Bhadrachalam Rāmadasa,” meaning the servant of Rāma from Bhadrachalam.
Even while enduring torture in prison, Gopanna never lost his devotion. With his fingernails, he painstakingly scratched a picture of Bhagavān Rāma on the wall for worship, and composed beautiful hymns in His praise. One day, he suddenly saw Tānishāh come into the prison and fall at his feet, saying, “Please forgive me, Gopanna. I am releasing you immediately.”
Gopanna was astonished and asked what had caused the king’s change of heart after twelve long years. Tānishāh’s reply shocked him even more: “Yesterday night, two regal-looking princes visited me in my chamber. They were luminous, and their majesty was overwhelming. Indeed, they were Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, for they carried bows in their hands and looked truly Divine. They paid me the exact sum you had taken from my tax collection, and asked me to release you. I was so overpowered by their beauty and power that I have now become Their devotee. Now I truly believe that you did construct the mandir for your God, and that He Himself has come to ask me to release you.”
When Gopanna heard these words, he immediately forgave Tānishāh, saying that he was blessed that Bhagavān Rāma had Himself appeared to him. In repentance, Tānishāh commanded that the kingdom of Golconda would offer pearls to the mandir every year, and that the gold coins left by the Princes with the king would be treated as sacred objects.
Thus, the tradition of gifting pearls and of worshipping the gold coins was started, and it still continues to this day, carried out by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. The nail-drawing of Gopanna can still be seen inside the jail of Golconda, and is worshipped by devotees even today. Clearly, Gopanna had realized that he had committed an evil act by colluding with Tānishāh to fleece his fellow people, but Rāma had accepted his atonement and repentance.
