srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImath varavaramunayE nama:

A Short Biography of Sri Alkondavilli Govindacharya (by Vanamamalai Dr. T.D. Muralidharan):

Sri Alkondavilli Govindacharya Swamy was the second son of Sri Srinivasa Iyengar who hailed from Tirupraithurai in Tiruchirapalli district in Tamil Nadu State, India. A. Govindacharya’s father, Sri Srinivasa Iyengar was a tutor in English to Sri. Nalmadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, Maharaja of Mysore and was known as “Angrezi Srinivasa Iyengar”. Sri Govindacharya Swamy traces his ancestry to Sri Ramanuja’s disciple Vaduga Nambi or Andhra Purna at Saligrama. He stood first in Engineering in the year 1878 for which he was awarded the medal from the School of Engineering and Natural Science, Bengaluru. He was an Executive Engineer in the PWD, Government of Mysore. The Nanjangad Kapila Bridge was built under his supervision. The house which he built in the then Viceroy Road in Mysore was called “VEDAGRIHAM”, his wife’s name being Vedanayakamma.

Sri Govindacharya Swamy put into practice the teachings of Sri Ramanujacharya in initiating “Harijans” [so called untouchables] into the Srivaishnava fold by “anointing” them in the traditional way and taking them inside the temples along with him (Yalandur temple in T.Narsipur Taluk).

Sri Govindacharya Swamy authored a number of books in English so people from other countries can understand our tradition. Dr. Annie Besant of the Theosophical Society was in constant touch with Sri Govindacharya Swamy but he fell out with her on ideological grounds. Sri Govindacharya Swamy and Prof. Max Mueller, the famous Indologist of Germany were in mutual contact through exchange of letters. One Parsi friend, Mr. Saklatwala of Mumbai and Sri Govindacharya Swamy had discussions on Zorastrianism and Srivaishnavam. When I visited VEDAGRIHAM on 15 November 1997, Swamy’s great-grandson Dr. Muthu narrated to me an event purported to have taken place during the life time of Sri Govindacharya Swamy. When Swamy’s manuscript of “The Life of Ramanuja” was kept near his “Thiruvaradhana Perumal” (Koil Azhvar), a cobra was seen on the manuscript raising his hood, thereby acknowledging the work, which was taken as a blessing of Sri Ramanujacharya, as Sri Ramanujacharya is himself an incarnation of “Adisesha”. His successor was his grandson (his only daughter’s eldest son) Dr. Yamunacharya (father of Dr. Muthu) who was a Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Mysore. Dr. Yamunacharya authored a book “Ramanuja’s teachings in his own words” published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai.

Vanamamalai Dr. T.D. Muralidharan

Additional Notes from Sri M. Narayana Prasad Swamy (son of Dr. Muthu Swamy): Sri Govindacharya Swamy established the Nanjiyar Sannidhi in Thirunarayanapuram (Melkote).

Sri Govindacharya Swamy wrote extensively in English in the late 19th century and early 20th century for the benefit of the western audience at that time, but now applicable universally. Sri Govindacharya Swami’s works comprehensively explain the fundamentals of Vedānta (Spiritual ends of Vedā, The Word), the foundation for Sanātana Dharma (Eternal Path), a practical application of which is the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya (tradition).

The content on the rest of this site (WorldSavior.org) is predominantly from Swami’s books. The Suggested Study page has a listing of books for beginners in Srivaishnavam.

Works blessed by Sri Govindacharya Swamy include the following, which have been digitized by Google:

Sri Bhagavad-gītā (1898) There is an effort currently under way at githa.koyil.org to make this work available in text format with minimal language changes to use contemporary English.
The Holy Lives of the Azhvārs (1902)
The Divine Wisdom of the Dravida Saints (1902)
The Life of Ramanujacharya: The Exponent of the Visishtadvaita Philosophy (1906): This work is known to be especially blessed, as related in the above short biography of Sri Alkondavilli Govindacharya:

When Swamy’s manuscript of “The Life of Ramanuja” was kept near his “Thiruvaradhana Perumal” (Koil Azhvar), a cobra was seen on the manuscript raising his hood, thereby acknowledging the work, which was taken as a blessing of Sri Ramanujacharya, as Sri Ramanujacharya is himself an incarnation of “Adisesha”.

The Vade Mecum of Vedanta or a Compendium of Vedic Philosophy (1909)
Yatindra-mata-dipikā; or The light of the school of Srī Rāmānuja (1912)
Inspiration, Intuition, Ecstasy. A Philosophical Study (1898)
The Vedanta and the Panchama Question (A Reply) (1906)
An Easy Arya-Tatva Catechism (1906)
A Metaphysique of Mysticism (1923)
Ideals of Ind (1907)
Prapanna Parijata (1900). Translator not mentioned but this translation is referred to by Śrī Gōvindāchārya Swāmi on page 209 of The Divine Wisdom of the Dravida Saints (1902)

In addition to the above books (and more that currently don’t seem to be available), Sri Govindacharya Swamy also contributed the following articles in early 1900s to the Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland published by Cambridge University Press reproduced in here by permission. These articles together with the above books serve to explain Vishistadavitam, the purport of Vedānta, in a wholesome fashion.

The Artha-Panchaka of Sri Pillai Lokacarya (July 1910). Certain corrections by Sri Govindacharya Swamy to Dr. Grierson’s introduction to this article were published in this article (July, 1912)
The Astadasa-Bhedas (October, 1910)
The Pancaratras or Bhagavat-Sastra (October, 1911)
The Translation of the Term “Bhagavan” (July 1910)
Another Note on the Word Bhagavan (April, 1912)
The Birthplace of Bhakti (April, 1912)
A Note on Narayana-Parivrat (October, 1910)
Note to Dr. Grierson on Vibhu vs Vibhava (January, 1910)

The following were published in Indian Antiquary:

The Prapanna-Paritrana OR The Refuge of the Refugee of Sri Pillai Lokacharya (November 1910; vol-39-1910)
The Navaratna-mala or The Nine-gemmed Garland of Sri Pillai Lokacharya (November, 1910)
A Second Note on Vāsudeva (August, 1911)
A Lacuna in the Harivamsa (February, 1911)
A Note on Yatiraja-Vaibhavam (May, 1911)
A Note on Ajivikas (December, 1912)
A Note on Siva-Bhagavata (June ,1913)

In addition, Sri Govindacharya Swamy contributed many articles to the Theosophist.

Re-birth (August, 1882)
Psychology of the Lamp (November, 1882)
Karma (January, 1883)
Editor’s note on Lecture at Tumkur (February, 1883)
Catechism of the Visishthadwaita Philosophy (May, 1883)
Explanation of “Laya” (May, 1883)
Visishtadwaita Philosophy (June, 1883)
Review – Bhagavad Gita with Sri Ramanuja’s Commentary (June, 1896)
Bhagavad Gita & Avyaktam (August, 1896)
Predestination & Free-will (1) – What do Hindu Books Say? (September, 1896)
Predestination & Free-will (2) – What do Hindu Books say? (November, 1896)
Predestination & Free-will (3) – What do Hindu Books say? (January, 1897)
Predestination & Free-will (4) – What do Hindu Books say? (February, 1897)
Predestination & Free-will (5) – What do Hindu Books Say? (April, 1897)
Predestination & Free-will (6) – What do Hindu Books Say? (May, 1897)
Responsibility, Man’s or God’s (November, 1898)
Supersensuous Consciousness (1) (April, 1899)
Evidences of Supersensuous Consciousness (2) (May, 1899)
Evidences of Supersensuous Consciousness (3) (June, 1899)
Sri Ramanuja’s Ultimate Religious Idea (October, 1902)
Theory of Avataras (God’s incarnations) (March, 1903)
Avataras (1) (God’s incarnations) (July, 1903)
Avataras (2) (God’s incarnations) (February, 1904)
Samskrt – Living or Dead (August, 1910)
The Holy Ghost or the Paraclete (1) (August, 1915)
The Holy Ghost or the Paraclete (2) (September, 1915)

Also the below articles by Sri Govindacharya Swami were published in The Light of Truth (Siddhanta Deepika) and Agamic Review between 1897 and 1914:

A Gold Leaf from Saint Nammalvar (1899)
Tiruviruttam combined series of first 54 verses
Visishtadvaitism (1) published in Prabuddha Bharata (Awakened India) (1899) in response to their initial review of Sri Govindacharya Swami’s Sri Bhagavad Gita (1898)
Visishtadvaitism (2), a followup to the previous publication. Together with the materials linked in the previous item, and the specific pages referred to in Sri Bhagavad Gita (1898), this makes for a brief debate between adherents of Advaita and Visishtadvaita.
Avataras (God’s incarnations)
Man – The Praying Animal (1899)
The Brahman Conception of God
The Philosophy of Karma
Problem of Evil combined series
Is Religion a mere Sentiment?
On Meditation
A Key to Sivagnana Bodha

A set of discourses on Mazdaism in the light of Vishnuism was also published in 1912. A note was also published in the book PARSIS OF ANCIENT INDIA (1920).