King Vijayaraghava Nayaka ruled Tanjore Kingdom from 1634 to 1673. During 1640s his kingdom faced a severe drought with repeated failure of the monsoons. This calamity remained for many years causing panic to the King. He met Sri Raghavendra Thirtharu requesting for his intervention and solution to get back normalcy to the kingdom. He also pleaded to Rayaru to relocate to Tanjore with a hope that the holy saint in Tanjore will change his fortunes. Rayaru accepted the kings request and moves his base to Tanjore.

In hard times of the famine and depleting treasury, Rayaru did not hesitate to feed the royals and the administration staff from the resources of the mutt. He also gave away valuables of the mutt to the King to meet the difficulties. This was an act of great generosity exhibited by Rayaru never seen in the recent history anywhere in the world.

He performed a severe penance followed by fire rituals invoking Lord Varuna to shower his blessings. To everybody’s surprise, there was suddenly a heavy downpour of rain filling all the water bodies. The intensity of the rain was never seen before the King and the people of the region were filled with joy and excitement.

Rayaru accomplished this task with firm devotion in the interest of the aggrieved people. It is said Tanjore has never seen a draught or famine since then.