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| Jeganatha Swamigal |
Jeganatha Swamigal was born, nine years prior to the birth of Ramalinga Adigal, at Puri near Calcutta, India in 1814 in the Tamil month of Thai. He was a follower of Ramalinga Adigal’s principles.
At the age of eighteen, he left for Chittagong in Burma.
Later at thirty, he tracked down to Malaya through Thailand. He worked as a brakeman in the Malayan Railways. He was based in Tanjong Malim for four years. Later he lived in Baling for eight years. The locals there saw him as a spiritual man and addressed him as Swami.
Then he went on a pilgrimage to Singapore. Enroute he stopped at Taiping. Here he was mistaken as a spy by the Burmese security forces loyal to the British in Malaya. Surprisingly he was released the next day without any interrogation.
At Seremban too, people began to take notice of his spiritual nature.
He moved on to Teluk Anson where he undertook charity and feeding the poor.
Finally, he settled in Tapah. He built a hut for himself near a Chinese graveyard and continued his sadhana here. When he went out, he dressed like Ramalinga Adigal. It is said that he never took a bath but there was always a sweet aroma around him.
Swamigal purchased three acres of rubber land in the vicinity and allowed the locals to build their homes on this land. Jeganatha Swamigal lived a simple life never making himself and his powers known to others. He lived alone. Often he used to be seen in a loincloth and people made fun of him calling him a lunatic.
When the time came for him to go into Samadhi, Jeganatha Swamigal asked to be buried alive but the authorities in Malaya did not allow that. The government of that day did not allow Jeganatha Swamigal to go into samadhi alive for only the dead could be buried. That was the law.
Therefore, he had dictated that his followers leave an opening with a pipe protruding on the concrete floor. Jeganatha Swamigal most probably went into another living thing thus appearing 'dead' in his present body. He then must have taken another body shortly leaving behind his presumed ‘dead’ body to be laid and buried. Jeganatha Swamigal must have entered back into his body later through the pipe that was now laid in the ground at his samadhi.
It is mentioned that Siddha Arunagirinathar who left his body to fetch the Parichatha flower from another world in the form of a bird, on returning back home, found to his dismay that his body, that he had carefully hidden in the towers of Arunachaleswarer temple in Tiruvannamalai, had been taken away and buried by his arch-enemy, Sambanthan, a black magician. As it was buried underground, Arunagirinathar had no way to return to his body and stayed in the form of the bird until his reunion with Lord Murugan.
Swamigal went into samadhi at 4.30 am on 25 January 1959 in Tapah. Jeganatha Swamigal chose a full moon and a Thaipusam day to go into samadhi. An eyewitness mentions that a flash of light was seen at that moment emerging from his samadhi.
A Shivalingam was installed above his samadhi. The locals collected funds to build a Shiva Temple. In 1980, N. Arumugam Pillai of Penang built a small hall. Later in 1990, A.V. Pasupathy Pillai of Malacca renovated the Shiva temple. Now there is a temple for Lord Shiva with a lingam erected above his samadhi. The pipe protruding into the samadhi is just behind this lingam. On my maiden visit to this temple some years back, the caretaker cum priests lead me to the back of the lingam at the inner sanctum to listen to the Jeganatha Swamigal’s breath.
His Guru Puja is celebrated a day after Thaipusam annually. Jeganatha Swamigal is believed to be alive until this day.
Jeganatha Swamigal lived for 145 years. He had three disciples: Chitramuthu Adigal from Panaikulam, India, Veemavar from Indonesia, and Sathyananthar of Sudha Samajam, Malaya.
Listen to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of the Sri Agathiyar Sri Thava Murugar Gnana Peedham at Kallar talk passionately of both his guru Chitramuthu Adigal and his Paramaguru Jeganatha Swamigal in this video clip. Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyaar too speaks about her paramagurus passionately.
Source of information from Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyaar and TIRUPPUR THAAIVEEDU AINTHAVATHU ANDU NIRAIVU VIZHA MALAR, 1994, the caretaker cum local priest of Jeganatha Swamigal Temple who has since then passed away, and from Nithyavani Manikam’s blog at http://nithyavani.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_28.html.
Read more about Swamigal at http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=470
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| Chitramuthu Adigal |
Chitramuthu Adigal was born in 1900 in Panaikulam in Ramanathapuram. His mother past away when he was only eight months old. After his mother died, his father remarried. His grandmother Kumaraiamma who subsequently passed away when he was six years old brought him up. He was then taken care of by his paternal aunt Seeniyaayiammal and later his elder sister, Ramaiammal.
Before leaving for Malaya his father placed him under the care of his stepmother Muthunaatchi. His stepmother ill-treated him and put an end to his schooling in Mudiveeran Pattinam when he was twelve. Instead, she sent him to work as a toddy tapper in Atthiyutthu.
As he was physically weak due to a lack of proper food and rest, he fell and fractured him while climbing a tree to collect toddy. Due to his injury, he was laid off for a year. When he recovered, he went back to grazing the cows and the goats.
When his maternal uncle refused to allow him to marry his (uncle) daughter, Muthu left for Malaya in 1922, staying in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. He worked as a toddy tapper for six years before returning to India in 1928.
He married Alagankulam Sree Kaalaiyappa Nadar’s daughter Shivagami Ammai the following year and they had a child in 1930 who survived only for three days.
He came again to Malaya and stayed in Taiping, Perak. He went back to tapping toddy.
Irusappa Mudaliyar a student of Tenkasi Rangoon Sadagopal Acari introduced him to astrology and he mastered the science.
He met Jeganatha Swamigal in Malaya and Jeganatha Swamigal took him as his disciple and gave him a new name - Chitramuthu. Jeganatha Swamigal helped Chitramuthu realize his true self, his full potential and his mission in life.
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| Chitramuthu Adigal with Jeganatha Swamigal |
Chitramuthu left for India where he had another child whom he named after Jeganathar.
He lost his eyesight. Unable to bear it anymore he decided to end his life. That is when he had a vision where an old man handed him a lime. Chitramuthu abandoned the thought of taking his own life. He left for Ramanathapuram hoping to get treatment at the government hospital. At the railway station, Suppiah Pillai who came to his aid took him home. Asking Chitramuthu to wait outside, Suppiah went into his home but never returned. Chitramuthu moved on. A government official took him to a Siddha physician who treated him. After two years in Alagan Kulam, he regained his sight.
Chitramuthu was in Malaya in 1922.
He left for Malaya again in 1940. This time he came to spread his teachings. He wore kaavi robes and took on the role of a spiritual teacher.
He had a short stint with the Indian National Army (INA) in Malaya.
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| Chitramuthu |
He left for India in 1947, leaving behind a large following who had regarded him as their Guru.
In India, he preached Jeeva Karunya or compassion towards other beings as upheld by Ramalinga Adigal. He opened up his home to the public and named it Aruloli Madam where he started giving discourses. He traveled to the neighboring villagers spreading his message. He managed to convince the public to drop animal sacrifice. Today his village folks (the whole village I am told) have abstained from consuming meat which is a great feat indeed.
He was back in Malaya in 1951. Chitramuthu Adigal preached at the Sree Thandayuthabani temple in Penang, the Aruloli Murugan temple in Penang hill, the Maha Mariamman temple in Ipoh, the Court Hill Pillaiyaar temple in Pudu, the Scott Road Kandaswami temple in Brickfields, the Athi Eswaran temple in Sentul, the Sree Maha Mariamman temple in Jalan Bandar, the Shivan temple in Jalan Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur and the Mariamman temple in Singapore.
He stayed in Ceylon in 1953.
Later he left for India. He established many missions in India and Malaya and the Atma Santhi Nilayam in his hometown Panaikulam.
He authored many songs in Tamil, which were later compiled as a book entitled ARUL OLI. His writing entitled GURUMATHI MAALAI, which dealt with false Gurus was published amidst much protest and sabotage from certain quarters. Other works of his that saw the light are TIRUPUGAZH TIRAVIYAM, PERINBA KURAL, MOUNANTHA MANI MOZHIGAL, MARANA SINTHANAI, GNANA PANDITHAN, NERAI NERI MOZHIGAL, SEER THIRUNTHU MANITHA, KARUNAI KANNEER, KIRUBAI PIRAGASA POKISHAM, ARULOLI MALAR, and GANDHIYIN THIRUVARUT PULAMBAL.
He established the Atma Shanti Nilayam in Alagan Kulam in 1958. (The Atma Shanti Nilayam became the Thaiveedu where the Deepa Dharisana Tiruvila is celebrated annually on the 7th day in the month of Chitirai, to commemorate the birth of Chitramuthu Adigal.)
The Aruloli Mandram was formed in 1960 under the patronage of Tun V. T Sambanthan, a minister in the Malaysian government. The Malaysian government donated a piece of land in Ipoh where on completion of the building the then Chief Minister of the state of Perak Datuk Sri Haji Kamaruddin Bin Haji Isa officiated its opening of the building on 11 February 1973.
Aruloli Mandram has since then been established in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and London.
He built and completed his Samadhi Mandapam and had Shivasri Muthu Kumara Sivachariar perform the Kumbhabishegam on the Shivaraja Kopuram in the year 1991.
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| Chitramuthu Adigal |
Chitramuthu Adigal went into samadhi on Sunday, May 5, 1995.
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| Chitramuthu Adigal's possessions |
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| Chitramuthu Adigal's chair |
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| Chitramuthu Adigal's possessions |
Source of information from Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyaar, TIRUPUR THAAIVEEDU AINTHAVATHU ANDU NIRAIVU VIZHA MALAR, 1994, and http://thaaiveedu.blogspot.com