Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal before becoming a mendicant or turavi, used to be a well-known orator often chairing the many talk shows or pattimandrams that were popular with the public. The talent he had as a proficient and convincing speaker was put to use and maximized now since he takes the stage again but this time to preach and popularize the path of the Siddhas or Siddhar Margam.
T.K Thangarajan as he was known formally was a successful businessperson managing his cotton industry in Tiruppur in Coimbatore. He was into politics and movies too.
He became a disciple of Chitramuthu Adigal and came to be known as Thaaiveedu Thangarasan. He was a devout follower of Agathiyar and the Siddhas.
Tavayogi had seen the worst of times when his business collapsed as a result of politics in India at that period of time; he had to hit the streets with his family; he became blind overnight, and was on the verge of committing suicide when he formed a determined resolve to belief in Agathiyar and let Agathiyar rule his life as he (Agathiyar) pleases.
He regained his sight; his life picked up and he regained his lost treasures only to leave them all behind voluntarily this time. He handed over the responsibility of managing the company to his son and family and walked out of all the luxuries he had been accumulating.
His travels through India brought him to the hills of Uthiyore, Kolli, Sathuragiri, and Pothigai amongst other sites of Siddhas. Tavayogi sought out Agathiyar Vanam on the instruction of Agathiyar and finally located it on the 9th km of the Ooty-Mettupalayam trunk route at Kallar. Tavayogi settled at Agathiyar Vanam, Kallar, He started an ashram that he named after his guru, the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Thirukovil.
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| The Aaru Aathaara Peedham at Kallar |
In 2004, Tavayogi accompanied an Indian citizen working in Malaysia, to Malaysia only to be left stranded alone on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Tavayogi contacted the only reference he had in Malaysia, Soundarajan. Soundarajan took him in. Tavayogi found his way to Lord Perumal’s temple in Puchong where he gave his first talk in Malaysia, as instructed by Agathiyar.
After meeting Appana Nagappan in Kallar, Tavayogi traveled again to Malaysia in 2005 at the invitation of Appana to officiate the opening of his movement the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham at Wisma Keringat in Batu Caves, Malaysia which was affiliated to Tavayogi.
I met Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal for the first time at the premises of the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in 2005. Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal’s name was mentioned to me four years prior to meeting him. Nadi Guru Senthilkumar handed me a leaflet in 2002 appealing for donations from Thaiveedu Thangarasan towards the building of a temple for Agathiyar in Kallar, Tamilnadu. I had kept that leaflet. When the Tamil language newspapers carried news about the opening of the Agathiyar Nyana Peedham in Malaysia by Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005, I searched for the leaflet that I had stashed away. I took it with me to see Tavayogi. He confirmed the leaflet was his. Tavayogi accepted me as his disciple amongst many others. Thus began another beautiful relationship between a guru and a disciple.
Subsequently, Tavayogi invited me over to his ashram at Kallar.
Like my first guru, Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai, Tavayogi too waited for me to turn up at his ashram on my second visit to India.
I was shown the life of a Siddha; I was taken on early morning walks; we bathe in the nearby stream that had its source in the mineral and herb-rich mountains of Ooty; I was shown how to conduct prayers to the Siddhas; I was given an opportunity to do charity and feed the poor, and was given an initiation; I was blessed to be taken on a pilgrimage by Tavayogi to Siddha samadhis, caves and temples which included Agathiyar’s temple at the Agneepureeswarar temple in Agasthiyampalli, Karuvurar’s temple at the Breehadeshwarar temple in Tanjore, Punakeeswarar’s samadhi at Chennimalai, Kovai, Sivavakiyar’s samadhi inside the temple at Sivanmalai, Kovai, Konganar’s cave at the hills of Uthiyore in Kanganam, Kovai, Agathiyar’s cave in the hills of Courtalam, Ramalinga Adigal’s cave and Dhakshanamurthi’s cave also in the hills of Courtalam, Agathiyar’s temple at Kutraleshwarar temple in Courtalam, Agathiyar’s temple at the Agathiyar’s Fall in the Pothigai hills, and Bhogar’s samadhi at Palani.
Tavayogi did not have me sit in front of him and preach to me; rather I had to observe and learn from him. I was given an opportunity to watch how he lived. I saw the humbleness in him; the kindness in him; and the simplicity with which he lived. He was not stressed out and often asked me to remain so. He must have guessed that I freaked out under stress. He asked me to be very patient when facing difficult times and circumstances. He asked me to be very patient with people too. He reminded me to remain calm in the face of problems and danger.
He used to sit and entertain all those who came to him. To those who came with problems he did not duel into the problems trying to find ways and suggests means to overcome it but instead asked that they pray to the Siddhas to help clear these problems. He avoided taking on the karma of people.
Tavayogi was not one who easily parts with the intricate workings of the spiritual world. He preaches the basics of the Siddha path to the masses. He once told me I had to wait 12 years before he would part with this knowledge. His ever-faithful aid and disciple Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyaar too is waiting patiently for the day when he would reveal this knowledge.
Back home in Malaysia Tavayogi accompanied me to his Paramaguru Jeganatha Swamigal’s samadhi in Tapah.
When Tavayogi visited Malaysia later, he taught me Asanas, which Agathiyar tells me in the Nadi, is to be treasured, cherished and put into practice. He showed me how to perform rituals like Abhisegam (ablution of the idol) and lighting the sacrificial light or fire (Homam). Agathiyar often mentions he is extremely happy with the prayers that we conduct at home.
Shiva Sri Muthu Kumara Sivachariar who was in the midst of building a Sakti temple at Bukit Rotan in Malaysia[1] invited Tavayogi over to the temple grounds to identify if there was a samadhi or at least the presence of Siddhas at the location of the temple he was building.
Tavayogi invited me to accompany him to Bukit Rotan. Before we left, Tavayogi wanted a branch from the Neem or Veppam tree. Tavayogi specifically searched for a Y shaped branch. He snapped the branch from the tree that I had planted in my home. On arrival at the temple grounds Tavayogi used the branch to locate energy spots. Even as he held the branch firmly in both his hands, he was being dragged from one spot to another until the inner sanctum, that was still under construction, where the branch snapped into two. He tells us the signs were there and that there was a samadhi at that spot. Sivachariar had chosen wisely to place the inner sanctum directly above the samadhi.
Again, at the requests of Sivachariar, Tavayogi led us to a spot where a shrine will be built for Agathiyar. Tavayogi placed lime paste on the palm of Sivachariar and led him from one spot to another and finally when at a particular spot outside the temple complex, the lime paste that was white became red in color. Tavayogi told Sivachariar to put up the temple for Agathiyar at this spot.
The Sakti temple has since been completed and the consecration ceremony or Kumbhabhisegam conducted. But Agathiyar is not there for reasons only known to Agathiyar. Agathiyar has other plans I suppose, just as he was not moving to the Sri Raghavendra Mritiga Brindavanam in Ipoh, he did not move to Shivachariyar’s temple for reasons only known to him.
Tavayogi has helped set up several movements propagating Agathiyar and the Siddha teachings in Malaysia, amongst them, the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham at Wisma Keringat in Batu Caves and the Agathiyar Gnana Kundalini Yoga in Teluk Intan.
He was the patron for the first and second World Conference of Siddha Philosophy held in Kuala Lumpur and Chennai respectively.
He is the author of several books among them ANDAMUM PINDAMUM, ATMA GNANAM, ATMA TARISANAM, and ATMA THATHUVAM.
Tavayogi holds Yoga classes and talks besides conducting prayers for Agathiyar and the Siddhas.
He helps feed the poor and gives handouts in cash and kind with financial assistance from the public.
He reads the Jeeva Nadi in his possession every Saturday for devotees who come seeking for advice and solutions to their life's problems.
Siddha practitioner Dr Ram Subramaniam attends to devotees seeking medical aid at Tavayogi's ashram every Purnima or full moon day.
Besides the monthly Purnima Puja, Tavayogi with Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyaar and well wishes conduct the Sarva Dosa Nivaarana Yagam in conjunction with Agathiyar’s Jayanthi and Guru Puja annually.
[1] A newspaper report on the consecration ceremony of this temple at http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/century-old-temple-to-be-consecrated-next-month-1.239332 and at http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2013/3/22/central/12844807&sec=central