Siddha Heartbeat: TAVAYOGI & AGATHIYAR

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal at Agathiyar's temple at Agasthiyampalli, Vedaranyam (2005)

No Saint or Guru had visited my home. The only Saints and Gurus I met where when they came to the temples to give a speech. At the end of the speech just like everyone else I would line up to get their blessings and sacred ash or vibhuti prasatham.

Now as I recall, I have seen Kripananda Variyar in Sitiawan, Haridos Giri in Sungai Petani, and Nithyananda at Bangi. So you can imagine how I felt when Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal agreed to accept my invitation to have lunch at our home. I was on cloud nine - blissfully happy! But my happiness did not last long! Tavayogi shot me down!

Before I go further I will have to start from the beginning. When I went for my very first Kaanda Nadi reading in Petaling Jaya in 2002, Nadi Guru Senthilkumar from Avinashi passed me a leaflet. In it was written that one Thaaiveedu Thangarasan MA was planning to build a temple for Agathiyar at Kallar.

In that reading, Agathiyar had ask that I come into the Siddha path, worship the Siddhas, help finance the construction of temples and also built one for Agathiyar. So I took the very first opportunity to help towards the cause by handing a small amount to Sentilkumar to pass it on to Thaaiveedu Thangarasan. I had kept the leaflet among my others things.

In 2005, I came across advertisements cum news in the local Tamil daily on the opening of an Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Malaysia. I do not subscribe to this paper but it was during this period my neighbor Augustine used to pass one daily.

In that advert, it was mentioned that a Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar will be officiating the Peedham. This name was now familiar to me. I remembered the leaflet and went looking for it. Now I had to see Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar and ask if it was his leaflet. And so I called the organizers. Perumal asked me to go over to their Peedham housed at Wisma Keringat in Batu Caves. When I knocked on the door of their office, Perumal introduced me to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar and Appana Nagappan, who had invited Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar to Malaysia.

Earlier Appana had been to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar's Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Kallar and had wanted to start one in Malaysia.

Both Appana and Perumal had to settle certain matters and left Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar and me to get acquainted. Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar took me to the adjacent room where he sat on the carpet of the meditation hall. I followed suit. I immediately took out the leaflet and showed it to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar, asking him if it was him. He told me it was his and explained to me what he was doing back in Kallar. He asked that I come in the evening with my family. That evening my wife and I received Theecha besides eight others.

I used to frequent the Peedham daily listening to his speeches. Then I observed that he accepted an invitation to devotees' homes and so I too extended an invitation. He readily accepted to come to my home. Appana and Perumal told me strictly that Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar did not submit to devotees falling at his feet nor the Paatha Puja or performing the ritual where washing of a saints feet in milk is done.

On the day of the appointment, as Appana could not make it I invited Perumal to accompany Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar to my home. I had gathered friends and relatives at my home. On Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar's arrival.at my home, my daughter was taking a video of the event. He asked her the necessity of recording his arrival and added on a lighter vein that it would be appropriated if he was a politician. My daughter immediately stopped filming.

I had placed white linen on a settee for Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar to have a seat. The others waited for him to take his seat on the settee and they all settled on the mat laid on the floor. Seeing this gesture of respect on our part, he immediately commented that he too did not need the seat and sat on the mat with us.

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar suggested we do a prayer before he partakes the food we had prepared. It was a beautiful although a very short prayer to Agathiyar and the Siddhas. I had the painting of Agathiyar at my altar purchased immediately after the Nadi reading in 2002 from Sivabalan who had brought in Senthilkumar. I was also given a small booklet carrying all the Siddhas names, SIDDHAR POTRI THOGUPPU, compiled by Rengaraja Desigar of the Agathiyar Sanmarga Sangam in Ongarakudil, by Senthilkumar then.

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar chanted a few hymns and showed the flame or Arati. We all adjoined for lunch.

As I stepped into the car now driven by my nephew to send Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar and Perumal back, I was on cloud nine. I could not contain my joy and blurted out that I was extremely happy that he had blessed my home by his arrival and added that no Saint or Guru had come over before this. To my surprise, he immediately shot me down by saying, "My son you are engrossed in Maya (or illusion)! You think I have something hidden within this saffron clothing (or Kaavi). I am not a Saint or Guru (Saamy) but only an AaSaamy." I felt embarrassed and kept quite. I could not understand why he had to say that then.

Today after eight years, I am grateful to him for saying that to me. I can imagine now what I would have done if he had remained quite and submitted to my praises and thanksgiving then. I would have immediately blown up his photo and would have garlanded him and prayed to him. He stopped me from starting a cult that worshipped him. Instead what he taught me was to worship the power or Shakti behind him. He calls this Shakti ...... Agathiyar!

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigalar remains the same even today, shunning away from the limelight, still insisting that no one fall at his feet, and still mentioning that he was no super human being.

I was blessed to witness Agathiyar open his left eye in his granite statue at this temple for the very first time as mentioned in the Nadi. It was only possible after Tavayogi's gesture in throwing me his shawl. (2005)