My brother-in-law upon watching the movie Sri Raghavendra back then in 1985 when it was released turned into a devotee or Bhakta of the saint overnight. Soon he gathered a few other devotees and used to conduct bhajans every Thursday hopping from one temple venue or hall to another. Later when the devotees suggested that they get a permanent place to worship their guru, he applied for a piece of land from the state government and soon built a wonderful prayer hall for Sri Raghavendra with public donations. It was officiated and opened to the public after its Prathistabana Maha Kumbajala Abhisegam on 12 June 2013. Thiru Sundara Arumugam has remained the faithful devotee of Sri Raghavendra to this day. That was the impact the movie had on him. Together with his daughter, Gowri Arumugam he has rendered a beautiful number recently, singing the grace of his Guru Sri Raghavendra, penned by Su. Vaasagan and composed by Jey Raggaveindra.
Agathiyar at AVM was to go over and reside there but he changed his mind at the eleventh hour for reasons only known to him, and stayed with us, though he had a teacher contribute another statue of his in its place. He has been with us in our home as a bronze statue for the past 10 years coming to us on 2 January 2010. His "birthplace' was Swamimalai, Tamilnadu, India where he was commissioned and cast in bronze. Even before his arrival, when the directive to build a temple for him came through a Nadi reading, my very first in 2002, I scouted around and approached existing temples in my vicinity and their committees but none wanted him in their premises, stating various reasons for not allowing me to erect his temple in the very obvious empty spaces on their grounds. I then dropped the idea thinking it was not feasible and shall have to let go just as the fifty others who received a similar message in their Nadi readings prior to me did not see through this task too.
After I returned from meeting my first guru Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai in 2003, he revealed his desire to build a temple for Lord Murugan in his village, some 8 kilometers away. I told myself that we shall see through this venture considering it as the task for me from my guru and as envisioned by Agathiyar in the Nadi. Opting for a ground nearer to Supramania Swami's guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar's samadhi on the Girivalam route, rather than in the outskirts of Tiruvannamalai, we built a kudil and just as we were to start on the temple, a "stranger" came along and persuades him to drop the idea.
Even before I began my tutorship with my second guru Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005, he had indicated his desire to build a temple for Agathiyar through fliers, one such that was made available to me by the Nadi reader in 2002. Tavayogi often spoke about buying the place where he had squatted on, building a small hut on it, and preaching the greatness of the Siddhas. Many events took place later and with the assistance of devotees from near and far, he saw the present Kallar Ashramam/temple/meditation hall complex materialize on a ground some 2 kilometers away from the earlier one. The Kumbhabishegam or குடமுழுக்கு / Kudamuzhukku or inauguration of the new was held on 16 December 2016. I thought that my contribution towards building a temple was over with the building of this Asramam by my guru. But it was not to be so.
In 2018, Lord Murugan in the Nadi told me that I had to build a temple for him. Later he sends Agathiyar to coax me into doing it. I did not want to carry out another similar venture as undertaken by my gurus. It did not appeal to me. I saw no reason to add another to the already existing numbers of temples and ashrams. As I did not move they told me that they shall see through it in 18 months. As the date of expiry arrived and there were no signs of it materializing, I was summoned for a Nadi reading. Agathiyar told me that there was no need to proceed and that they had tested me! What they did later was to strengthen the existing fort - their home. Having being pampered all this while, I had lamented to him that the current neighborhood, the environment, and the surrounding was not conducive anymore to begin meditating for a beginner like me. The original house owners have left; new owners and tenants have moved in; what was a dead-end street that serviced only the residents of this small housing estate of some 150 houses is considered the main road now after a small hillock was cut through linking it to other areas; and with Google map and Waze showing this access road as alternative routes to avoid the jam on other major roads, we have seen an increase in traffic these days. When I received the keys to my home in 1994 and moved in there was the mist that brushed our faces both in the mornings and evenings. Now they are gone. Dust and pollution have settled instead. I knew that I could neither change nor move things. In desperation, I went to him as a last resort. Agathiyar had a neighbor some doors away come over and offer to replace the broken window panes, the rusted iron and rotten timber frames that now kept the noise and smell away. Suggesting giving a facelift to the home and kitchen the neighbor then gave a new coat of paint and built a new kitchen counter. Air-conditions were installed through recommendations from another neighbor hence creating a conducive environment to pursue Agathiyar's wish for me to go within without any difficulty. I am a spoiled brat, am I not? I remember Tavayogi tell me that we have brought Agathiyar into our homes rather easily while he had to go in search of him the hard way. This was only possible by the grace of my gurus in physical form, Supramania Swami and Tavayogi and Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and all the other Siddhas together with the Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon.
After starting with pilgrimages to temples to carry out remedies for my past deeds or karma in 2003 and brought to spiritual spots of the Siddhas by Tavayogi in 2005, henceforth a new journey began where we began to observe our conduct, speech, body, and mind, etc through puja or prayer; worship and rituals; and Yoga. An African proverb says, "Go in a group if you want to travel far; travel alone if you want to go fast." I can relate the journey that Agathiyar paved for us, to this proverb. Initially, we needed the crowd and numbers to begin the journey together, motivating one another, hence the reason he sent many to my home. My home became Agathiyar's home too. The name Agathiyar Vanam was coined later for easy reference. But as we progressed, the path narrowed and we finally stood at a bridge that would only allow one at a time to walk by. It was time to break up the group to facilitate this movement and it seemed like there was a sudden need to hasten the pace too. Having brought us this far together, he dispersed us to travel our own way from thereon. The proverb corresponds well with the stages Sariyai, Kriyai, and the first 4 Angas or limbs of Yoga that we traversed together. Soon the solo journey unfolded beginning with the later 4 Angas of Yoga that took a turn or reversed having us look within and finally arrive at the threshold of Gnana or Spiritual Wisdom. Agathiyar tells us that the experience gained in journeying within sitting in solitude and observing the breath leads us to Gnana. Observing the breath, we shall get in touch with our soul. We shall have touched the fringes of Gnana then. From thenceforth all questions are answered from within without the need to seek outside, be it from spiritual literature and sacred texts or spiritual masters. "You are the lab; the whole experiment is to go on within you," says Osho in his "The Book of Secrets." Bhogar is said to have experimented on himself the concoctions he prepared from herbs.
Agathiyar raises the bar with each achievement of ours just as the bar is raised with each successful jump over the pole in the high jump. As such it is difficult to predict the end of this journey that we have undertaken following in the footsteps of our gurus and their teachings. Where does it all end? Only he knows. Ramalinga Adigal standing at the highest level of lifetime achievement possible tells us that there is more to it, that words cannot possibly express. What could these possibly be? These secrets are with the Siddhas. Paul Zweig in the introduction to Swami Muktananda’s "The Perfect Relationship", Syda Foundation, 1985, wrote that Swami Muktananda "felt that Gods ‘secret’ was not contained in any Sanskrit formula, ancient ritual, or technique of meditation; that severe austerities and physical deprivation would not reveal it. He felt that the ‘secret’ resided with great beings, with saints; they were themselves the ‘secret’ and he could learn what they were by loving them and sitting at their feet. After almost twenty-five years, he met Bhagawan Nithyananda." Paul Zweig writes, “In a flash of self-understanding he knew that he had found his other half; that now he was whole again.” Swami Muktananda now realized that the ‘secret’ was with the Guru and so the need for one to learn at the feet of such a Guru.
Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh says,
“Let each man take the path according to his capacity, temperament, and understanding. His Satguru will meet him along the path. Listen to all, but follow one. Respect all, but adore one. Gather knowledge from all, but adopt the teachings of one master. Then you will have rapid spiritual progress. Once you choose your Guru, implicitly follow him. God will guide you through the Guru.”
True to this saying, Thiru Sundara Arumugam was moved by the movie and became a devotee of Sri Raghavendra while I was called to the Siddha path by Agathiyar in his Nadi. It has truly being a blissful journey.