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Jagadguru Bodhendra Saraswati Swamigal was born in Kancheepuram. There was a couple in Kancheepuram by the name Kesava Pandurangan and Suguna. They did not have a child for many years. 

They prayed to their guru, Vishwadikendhra Saraswathi, who was then the pontiff of Kanchi mutt. He blessed them that they would have a child very soon and they returned happily. They then had a male child born to them shortly in the year 1610. They named him Purushothaman. 

Purushothaman was a very bright child. They performed his upananyanam (sacred thread ceremony) and took him to their guru Vishwadikendhra Saraswathi. 

Their guru enquired who the child was and they replied that it was the Guru’s child. The guru then asked Kesava Pandurangan if he would give the child  to the mutt if he really meant that he was his child. 

Kesava Pandurangan then happily gave Purushothaman to Vishwadikendhra Saraswathi. The guru arranged for a teacher who would teach Purushothaman all the Vedas and sastras. Purushothaman studied along with another boy called Gyanasakaran. 

He finished all his studies when he was only 18. The only thing left to be learned was Bhramavidhyai and he wanted to learn this from his Guru and Vishwadikendrar had also promised that he would teach him Bhramavidhyai personally. 

However, Vishwadikendrar had gone on a yatra and was now in Kasi. Purushothaman and Gyanasakaran had to walk from Kanchi to Kasi. One day, they started their journey to Kasi to meet their guru. 

Gyanasakaran was good in astrology and knew that he would die on the way to Kasi. As they were close friends, he told Purushothaman that if something happens to either one of them, the other should perform their death ceremony and then give up his life in the Ganges so that both of them can be together even after death. 

They had only covered half the distance and Gyanasekaran suddenly fell ill and passed away. After performing his death ceremony, Purushothaman continued his journey to Kasi. On reaching Kasi he met his guru, prostrated and told him what had happened to them on their way. 

 He then asked his guru’s permission to give up his life in the Ganges. The guru felt bad as he had planned to make Purushothaman as the next pontiff of the mutt. He then told Purushothaman that if he has to do what he promised to his friend and also do what he wanted him to do, then there was a solution and asked him if he would agree to it.

Purushothaman immediately replied that he would agree to his Guru’s words. The Guru then said that getting in to Sanyasa ashram was like having a new birth. This way he would keep up the promise made to his friend and also keep him happy by becoming the next pontiff of the mutt. 

Vishwadikendrar then gave him sanyasa and named him as Bagavannama Bodhendrar (59th Pontiff of Kanchi Mutt). He then stayed in Kasi and learnt everything from his guru. His guru then asked him to go back to south India and do Nama pracharam and show the power of Bagavan Nama. 

On reaching Kanchi, he wrote several books as desired by his guru. Some of them that are available today are Bagavannama Rasodhayam, Bagavannama Rasarnavam, and Bagavannama Rasayanam.

Botherndral was waiting for his guru to come back so that he could show his books to him. Vishwadikendhra Saraswathi finished his yatra and came back to Kanchi. Vishwadikendhra Saraswathi was very happy with his work and asked him to preach the importance of Bagavan Nama. 

Bodhenral then travelled across India and made everyone chant Rama nama and also preached that the only way to attain god in this Kaliyuga was chanting the name of god.

One day kids were playing in the banks of Kaveri. They would keep their feet in the mud and close it with mud and then remove the disappeared leg from the sand.

Bodhendral had now planned to leave this world, so he went to the children and said that he would come out if they buried him inside the sand. Taking this for true, the kids dug a pit and asked him to get inside. They then closed him completely with sand while he was meditating. 

The next day, people in the village were searching for Bodhendral and they couldn’t find him. The kids then told them that he is buried under the sand and that he had asked them to do that. The villagers were now frightened. They then decided to start digging there and all of a sudden there was a voice saying that he was in Samadhi here and that no one should disturb him. After a few years, the exact location of his Samadhi was forgotten as they had not build an Adhishtanam

After 100 years of his Samadhi, Maruthanallur Sadguru swamigal decided to find his Samadhi and build an Adhishtanam around it. He searched for the exact location in Govindapuram.

 He would tie his legs and crawl on the river bank as he did not want to accidentally touch the Samadhi on his feet. At one place he could hear Rama nama being chanted and he immediately found out that it was the location where Bodhendral had attained Samadhi. 

He then went to Maharashtrian king who was then ruling Tanjore and with his help built the Adhishtanam there. 

Govindapuram is a beautiful village situated on the river bank of Veeracholan (a tributary of the River Cauvery) and located in between the cities of Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai in the Tanjore Cauvery belt of Tamilnadu. It is located on the Kumbakonam Mayiladudurai Highway, 12 Kms from Kumbakonam. 

 In this village, in a calm and serene atmosphere on the river bank, The Jeeva Samadhi of Sri Bhagavan naama Bodendra Saraswathi Swamigal, the 59th Peedathipathy of Kanchi mutt is present.

Sri Bodhendral performed Tatanka Pratishtha at Jambukeswaram and while returning to Kanchi ,He attained Videha Mukthi at Govindapuram on a Full Moon day in the month of Proshtapada of the cyclic year Prajotpatti (1692 AD).