Rama:- Suryavamsha
Lord Rama in Trethayuga needed an idol for his daily worship, since he had given away his original idol of worship viz, Ranganatha to Vibhishana. So he approaches Brahma, who gives away the idol of Shelvanarayana which was being worshipped by him. Lord Rama, after establishing Ramarajya
decided to leave this world. So he gave away this idol to King Kusha. The idol came to be known as ‘Ramapriya’.
Krishna:- Yadava Dynasty
King Kusha, in turn gave the idol, as marriage gift to Yadavakumara of Yadava dynasty who married his daughter Kanakamalini. Thus the idol Ramapriya changed hands from Suryavamsha to Yadava dynasty. Ultimately, it came to be possessed by Lord Krishna, himself a Yadava, for daily worship by his family. After a long time Balarama and his friends, while on a piligrimage, arrived in Melkote. Looking at Moolavar Tirunarayana Balarama found an identical similarity with Ramapriya – their family idol of worship. Balarama, on return, mentions this similarity to Lord Krishna who does not believe.
Later, Lord Krishna and Balarama together come to Melkote to verify. Krishna looks at Tirunarayana and hails that the idol Ramapriya at their home
is none other than Tirunarayana. Krishna decides that the right place for Ramapriya is to be with Tirunarayana. Thus the idol Ramapriya came to
be installed in Melkote.
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