Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal came to Malaysia the first time in 2004. He came to spread the word about the Siddhas and their worship. His guru Chitramuthu Adigal frequented Malaysia (then Malaya) much earlier.
Chitramuthu 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 came again to Malaya and stayed in Taiping, Perak. He went back to tapping toddy.
Chitramuthu left for India where he had another child whom he named after his guru Jeganatha Swamigal. Chitramuthu Adigal's guru was also in Malaysia and went into samadhi in Tapah.
Chitramuthu Adigal left for Malaya again in 1940. This time he came to spread his teachings.
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 travelled to the neighbouring villagers spreading his message.
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. Chitramuthu Adigal went into Samadhi on Sunday May 5, 1995.
Jeganathar left Puri, India for Chittagong in Burma in 1832 at the age of eighteen. 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, where he was mistaken as a spy by the Burmese security forces loyal to the British in Malaya and put behind bars. 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 fed the poor.
Finally, he settled in Tapah. He built a hut for himself near a Chinese graveyard and continued his sadhana and tapas or austerity here.
So Tavayogi followed the footsteps of his Guru and Paramaguru and set his foot on Malaysian soil in 2004. He managed to give a talk in a couple of temples before heading back to India. He came back the following year to officiate a local chapter of his Agathiyar Gnana Peedham at Batu Caves. That is where I met him and a beautiful relationship started. He paved the way for me to engage in doing charity and rituals.
Following in his footsteps, the wonderful team at PTS have been doing charity without fail. Wanting to bring the culture of conducting the Siddhar Puja in their homes, Mahindren took the lead in organizing such an event recently at his home, having invited family and friends. It was carried out in the calmest and most systematic way and most importantly it was short and brief. My mind settled immediately the moment Mahindren started the puja. After the puja we were treated to a banana leaf dinner.
It makes me proud to see the seed that was sowed by Tavayogi has grown into a tree that has begun to fruit beautifully too. Besides this both Mahin and Malar drop by ATM daily to bath the bronze statue of Agathiyar and dress him up, in the most beautiful manner. Tavayogi's dream to bring the Siddha worship to our shores has seen fruition.