After going through the books by the numerous authors who I have quoted extensively in this book, I realized the magnitude of the benefits derived in performing the Yagna (Yajna/ Yagam/Agnihotra/ Homam).
Agathiyar had set me on the path of the Siddhas, quite unexpectedly in 2001. My nephew, Thayalan Arumugam, mysteriously though, passes a mantra to me to be recited, not revealing its source then. In 2002, my friend of many years Muralitharan Saminathan, out of the blues, reveals his own experience in seeing his Nadi in the year 2000, which sets me keen on seeing mine too. The Nadi are predictions and documentations by Agathiyar and other Siddhas on individuals that are written on dried and preserved palm leaves which are under the custody of certain individuals in India. The Nadi reveals the present, future and surprisingly the past too. After Muralitharan arranges for me to see the Nadi, I journey to India for the first time to perform the atonements spelled out in my Nadi by Agathiyar the following year.
While on my last leg of my pilgrimage I meet my first guru Supramania Swami as ordained in the Nadi under unusual circumstances. Supramania Swami of Thiruvanamalai ignites the fire in me.
In 2005 Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Thirukovil at Kallar, Tamilnadu who was in Malaysia to officiate the opening of affiliated Peedham takes me in as a disciple and has since nurtured the fire in me.
Since then till this present day, Agathiyar sustains both the fire and breath in me. Agathiyar has come to my home in the form of a bronze statue, an exact replica of the granite statue at Sri Agneepureeswarar Temple, Agasthiyampalli, Vedharanyam as he had instructed to be made in my Nadi.
Maharishi Vishvamitra mentions that Agathiyar had performed his deep penance at Vedpuri in far south or present-day Vedharanyam. An elderly priest who was in attendance at this temple points out to Tavayogi and me the exact spot where Agathiyar had pressed his thumb on the ground to bring back balance and stability to the earth which had tilted as a result of all the Gods and Goddesses, Devas and Devis, the Sidhas, the Rishis, the Munis, Gandharvas, and Asuras who had converged and gathered at Kailas to witness the marriage of Lord Siva to Goddess Parvathy. This was the temple too where Agathiyar who is installed as a granite statue, blesses Tavayogi and me with his Darshan by opening his eye.
According to Siddha's writings, Agathiyar was born in the Tamil month of Margazhi when Ahilya Natchathiram was in the 3rd quarter. Agathiyar reveals in the Jeeva Nadi the exact time of his birth as 27 ½ Naaligai or 10 hours 58 minutes after the commencement of Ahilya. Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal celebrates Agathiyar’s Guru Puja annually to commemorate the birth (Jayanthi) of Agathiyar, with devotees at his hermitage (ashram) in Kallar, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. The highlight of this two-day celebration is the lighting of the sacrificial fire or Yagna. Tavayogi started performing the Yagna or lighting the sacrificial fire on his ashram grounds some time back, beginning with five numbers of Yagna pits and has now expanded to 108 on the directive of Agathiyar with the purpose of calming down Mother Earth and Nature and thus lessening the natural calamities and as a result, saving lives and properties.
I was instructed by Tavayogi to conduct the Homam which is a Yagna on a smaller scale, in Malaysia simultaneously at this auspicious moment. Later Tavayogi during one of his numerous visits to Malaysia showed me the proper way to conduct the Homam and Abhisegam. This led me to investigate the reasons for performing/conducting these rituals.
This book is the result of this search. I wish to thank all the authors and publishers whom I have quoted extensively in these pages. I am grateful to all these authors for their extensive knowledge and information made available to the masses and which I have reproduced in these pages. I am grateful to Agathiyar and Tavayogi for providing the opportunity and means to conduct the Homam on Thursdays, Amavasai, Pournami, Agathiyar Jayanthi, Sivarathri, Navarathri, Vinayagar Chaturthi, Thaipusamand other auspicious days.
Read FEEDING THE FLAME at http://www.scribd.com/doc/149504695/Feeding-the-Flame