Going by the records and the conversations with the Siddhas through the Nadi and coming through devotees, I have come to understand that Agathiyar is using me as a tool to convey messages and to bring drastic changes that others never could bring themselves to do. Agathiyar is redefining the path according to present times, having us drop many things upheld and break many things considered taboo, including practices and beliefs. Life is a journey of the soul rather than an individual with a name and identity. In wanting to know new things and gain experiences, the soul seeks to venture out of the enclosure that man and society have created. Generally, people are satisfied with what was passed on to them. Only a handful seek to venture to know more. These handfuls are then met by gurus, enlightened men. The next phase of their journey starts. The enlightened soul does not drift into oblivion but remains in the family, community, and society observing and guiding those seeking to know.
Before sending my wife to board the train back to her hometown this morning, we stopped over at several temples in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Parking the car in a spot along Scott Road we walked up to the Sri Kandaswamy Temple. There was a huge turnout of devotees as in the other temples that we visited later too as it was a Saturday where devotees light oil lamps for Saneeswarar or the Lord of the planet Saturn. It brought back fond memories when we visited this temple with Jnana Jothiamma when she visited us in 2013 and 2014.
From About Us | Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Brickfields (srikandaswamykovil.org) we learn its history or Stala Puranam.
The idea of a temple for us was first mooted on 24th December 1890 when 50 of our then leaders met at the residence of one Mr. V. Sinappah who was the Acting Traffic Inspector of Selangor Government Railway and a very influential member of the Ceylon Tamil Community. They were anxious to have a temple in order to practice and observe the Saiva Siddhantha Tenets and religious observances such as “Viratham” (fasting), “Thithis” (commemoration rituals), “Punniyaahavaasam” (purification ceremony), “Kantha Sasthi” and so on. The matter was discussed and a decision was made to purchase an appropriate piece of land for that purpose. A very large percentage of the small Ceylon Tamil Community of Kuala Lumpur lived in the Government Quarters at Scott Road. It was for this reason that a piece of land comprising two lots was acquired in the immediate neighbourhood of the quarters to build a Temple and Hall. The locality was for some years known as “Sinna Yalpanam” or “Little Jaffna”. The Sri Kandaswamy Temple was inaugurated in 1902 with the installation of the “VEL” by His Holiness Sri Murugaswamy, an eminent Saivite.
Bala Aiya a former hotelier, who frequents AVM serves and helps the temple priest at this temple when called for. He reaches out to help out at the other temples including the Sri Raja Sakthy Nageswary Amman Alayam and Sri Kasi Visalatchy Sametha and Sri Kasi Viswanathar Swamy Thirukovil at KL Eco City, Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur too. Brahmins by birth Bala Aiya and his soulmate Shanti Ma are staunch followers of Agathiyar and the Siddhas too. Apart from me and my wife, this couple were the only seniors in the group of youngsters who were the lifeblood of AVM back then. Come 2019 Agathiyar had us all go our way to live out our lives in the material world, carry out our responsibilities to the family and start a new family for many, gain lessons from the experiences they came across, and finally return to the Siddha path someday in the future. Agathiyar did not trap them in a snare nor take possession of them immediately. He let them loose to explore the world but held on to the thin and fine thread that held us all together.
We then moved on to another couple of temples adjacent to Sri Kandaswamy Temple. It was the Sree Krishna Temple and Sree Veera Hanuman Temple.
I saw a devotee of Lord Ranganathar, Andal elevated to the state of Goddess at the Sree Krishna Temple.
From Sree Veera Hanuman Temple, Brickfields Reveals Captivating Majestic Sculptures And A Unique Gopuram - Varnam Malaysia we learn that
This temple was established in 1942 near KL Sentral Monorail station. Due to the development of the station, the temple was shifted to current place which is at Scott road in 1999. Mr Suresh, the Chairman of the temple has designed the temple based on the stories he heard since he was young. Mr Suresh who was graduated in Engineering stated that he was the one designed most of the sculptures and pillars. He went to few countries during that period, to gather more information and ideas about Hanuman. He took almost five years to complete just the design of the temple. We can explore Hanuman statue from different countries in this temple. Mr Suresh took the initiative to gather the variety of statues.
Finally, we stopped over at the Sri Maha Muneswarar Temple.
From Brickfields, Sri Maha Muneswarar Temple Kumbabishegam Is Happening On 21st January 2024 - Varnam Malaysia we learn further about this temple.
This temple, boasting a venerable history of 127 years, has undergone a noteworthy journey, initially experiencing a relocation process and presently finding its abode at Brickfields, Scott Road.
The late Swami Guhabhaktananda Saraswati Maharaj, the first Malaysian-born monk to lead the Divine Life Society here at Batu Caves, is said to have said that Malaysians need temples for otherwise we would lose our identity. A reader emailed me in the past telling me how her father from Andra in South India migrated to the Fiji islands. He used to sing Ramalinga Adigal's Arutpa songs. After 40 years she remembered these songs upon listening to them on my now-defunct website. Another soul from Mauritius who resides in Botswana wrote to me telling me that he finally located a rare devotional number "Thuthi Magale Sivanin Naamaa Vazhi" sung by AM Rajah on this website of mine. His message goes as follows.
"Thanks very much for a very good blog. I have been looking for "Thuthi Magale" by AM Rajah for a very long time but to no avail until I got hold of your site. I could not believe my ears when I heard it. It is like going back in time of my childhood. I used to cherish and sing it when I am really down. I sincerely appreciate the time you spent converting the audio tape of "Thuthi Magale" into mp3."
Though Agathiyar has listened to devotees' problems and given solutions, enquired about their health, and healed some, he has also asked others to seek other deities for relief. Ramalinga Adigal too, was initially willing to help out but later pointed a devotee to the deity Karupanasamy to look into his current state of affairs. Agathiyar who stands watch over our family surprisingly asked my daughter to light a ghee lamp before Lord Ganesha every Thursday for nine consecutive weeks for her 3-year-old son.
I had stayed away from places of worship to what people categorize as "lesser deities" or Siru Deivam, often in the homes of select devotees, but would join in, in the feast that follows the animal sacrifice given. But Agathiyar had me interact with these deities too, making me understand that it was all part of creation and the divine play. In the eyes of the Siddhas, we are not different. Neither are the deities and Gods and Goddesses. But since man is governed by time and space they advocate measures to bring relief to us by asking us to visit temples and Gods. Henceforth these deities have guided us along often looking into the immediate material and gross needs of us and advising accordingly. But Gnana is only dispensed by the Siddhas who have tracked long and far this path and have accumulated vast experiences and practices. These they pass on to their students. The Siddhas who are subtle in nature guide man who is gross and "heavy" to finer and subtler planes and realms by helping him transform from the gross to the subtle. Agathiyar tells us that he had to come to look into our needs now since Tavayogi was engaged in doing his work in the subtle realm. Yogi Ramsuratkumar on his deathbed told his devotees not to shed tears for he could do a better job in the subtle form.
How can we make sense of all these unless we travel the path of the Siddhas and know for ourselves? No amount of reading would bring us there. When I thought that having the Jeeva Nadi would be an asset where we could ask Agathiyar to know about the unfathomed mysteries and wonder rather than use it to know our immediate wants and fulfill our needs, Agathiyar asked me how I had attained Gnanam. It was only by trailing behind Tavayogi going places, and practicing the lessons and teachings given, that I am where I am today, he added. None of these are available in the books and literature. Even if he was to dispense pages of Gnanam vis the Nadi, it can never substitute true and practical experience gained when one hits the track. Those are mere stories until we fit into these shoes. He added asking me how I saw and comprehended Ramalinga Adigal's songs then and now. With experience, we begin to see things from a different perspective and understand these sacred hymns and songs and their inner meanings. He had me drop the desire to own a Nadi that he had promised to pass on to me back then for my use and for others' needs. Similarly, he had me drop any desire if there was to see through their wish and desire for a temple that was in the asking since 2002. Agathiyar and Lord Murugan finally told me that they had tested me. But after traveling with them for some 22 years or that was what I thought until Agathiyar came along and told me he knew me for crores of years, I thought the best form of repayment to them, which initially I thought was undivided attention and service, which Agathiyar shot down too, would be a temple left behind for the devotees in the future including my grandchildren. But Agathiyar comes along and sends this renewed intention into the shadows telling us that preaching the path is the best thing a devotee could engage and do. I guess that is why he has me pen these words, staying out of sight but having me in the thoughts of readers. Thank you readers for following this blog and traveling the path and learning together with me.