TAVAYOGI & KALLAR ASHRAM

With the Kallar Ashram geared to celebrate the annual Agathiyar Jayanthi and Guru Puja come 18 December 2016 for the 14th year, it's only appropriate that we share some information on the man and Guru behind the Ashram.

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal before becoming a mendicant or turavi, used to be a well-known orator often chairing the many talk shows or pattimandrams that was popular with the public. The talent he had as a proficient and convincing speaker was maximized now since he takes the stage again but this time to preach and popularize the path of the Siddhas or Siddhar Margam.

TK Thangarajan as he was known formerly was a successful businessperson managing his cotton industry in Thirupur in Coimbatore. He was into politics and movies too. 

He became a disciple of Chitramuthu Adigal and came to be known as Thaaiveedu Thangarasan. He was a devout follower of Agathiyar and the Siddhas.

Tavayogi had seen the worst of times when his business collapsed as a result of policies and politics in India at that period of time; he had to hit the streets with his family; he became blind overnight, and was on the verge of committing suicide when he formed a determined resolve to belief in Agathiyar and let Him rule his life as He pleases. Soon he regained his sight; his life picked up and he regained his lost treasures. He started an affiliate branch of Chitramuthu Adigal's Aathma Shanti Nilayam, now regarded as Thaaiveedu which was at Panaikulam, in his hometown of Thirupur. He conducted prayers and annadhanam.

Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar who found her way to the Thiripur branch of Chitramuthu Adigal's Thaaiveedu run and managed by Tavayogi, soon was taken to meet Chitramuthu Adigal by Tavayogi. Adigal blessed her that she would make progress in the oratory field. She then teamed up with Tavayogi on their pattimandram tours. Today she too stands as a public figure and a great orator, following in the footsteps of her mentor and Guru.

Tavayogi left the material life voluntarily at the age of 50 just as he had vowed earlier. He handed over the responsibility of managing the company to his son and family and walked out of all the luxuries he had been accumulating all the years. He began traveling on foot, his travels through India brought him to the hills, jungles and caves of Uthiyore, Kolli, Sathuragiri, and Pothigai amongst other auspicious sites of Siddhas. He finally settled in Agathiyar Vanam at the Kallar foothills, on the 9th km of the Ooty-Mettupalayam trunk route where he started an ashram that he named after his guru the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Thirukovil.

In 2004, Tavayogi accompanied an Indian citizen a Nadi reader to Malaysia. He found his way to Lord Perumal’s temple in Puchong where he gave his first ever talk on the Siddhas in Malaysia, as instructed by Agathiyar. Tavayogi's immediate Guru Chitramuthu Adigal and Paramaguru Jeganatha Swamigal had lived in Malaysia much earlier.

Tavayogi traveled again to Malaysia in 2005 at the invitation of a devotee of Agathiyar. It was in the year 2005 that I met Tavayogi in Malaysia. He was officiating a local branch of the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Batu Caves. Ironically, his name was mentioned to me four years prior to meeting him. After having my very first Nadi reading in Malaysia, the Nadi reader Senthilkumar handed me a leaflet appealing for donations from one Thaiveedu Thangarasan towards the building of a temple for Agathiyar in Kallar, Tamilnadu. It turned out that the leaflet was Tavayogi's.

He invited me over to his Kallar Ashram and I took up his invitation arriving after a couple of months after his departure back to India. Mataji used to join Tavayogi at his ashram to perform prayers, and jointly they fed the local villagers, the poor and visitors to the Ashram with financial assistance and donations from the general public. That was my very first experience staying at an Ashram. It was a lovely experience. I was shown the live of a Siddha; I was taken on early morning walks; we bath in the nearby stream that had its source in the mineral and herb-rich mountains of Ooty; I was shown how to conduct prayers to the Siddhas; I was given an opportunity to do charity and feed the poor; and was given an initiation; and Tavayogi and I traveled to numerous places associated with the Siddhas including Siddha samadhis, caves and temples.

Thus began a beautiful relationship between a guru and a disciple. This bond between us grew as Tavayogi and Mataji made frequent visits to Malaysia initiating devotees on the path of the Siddhas and officiating more Peedhams. It was during these visits that Tavayogi took some time off to visit his Paramaguru Jeganatha Swamigal’s samadhi in Tapah; taught me and several others Asanas and Pranayamas; and showed me how to perform rituals like Abhisegam (ablution of the idol) and lighting the sacrificial light or fire (Homam). 

Tavayogi did not have me sit in front of him and preach to me; rather I had to observe and learn from him. I was given an opportunity to watch how he lived. I saw the humbleness in him; the kindness in him; and the simplicity with which he lived. He was not stressed out and often asked me to remain so. He must have guessed that I freaked out under stress. He asked me to be very patient when facing difficult times and circumstances. He asked me to be very patient with people. He asked me to remain calm in the face of problems and danger. He used to sit and entertain all those who came to him. To those who came with problems he did not duel into the problems trying to find ways nor suggests means to overcome it but instead asked that they pray to the Siddhas to help clear these problems. He avoided taking on the Karma of people. 

Tavayogi was not one who easily parts with the intricate workings of the spiritual world although he preaches the basics of the Siddha path to the masses. He once told me I had to wait twelve years before he would part with this knowledge. His ever-faithful aid and disciple Mataji Sarojini Ammal too is waiting patiently for the day where he would reveal this knowledge. 

When Tavayogi and Mataji returned to visit us in Malaysia last June, we arranged for him to oversee several puja conducted by AVM family members at their homes. Besides that Tavayogi conducted Yagams at AVM, the Taneermalai Murugan temple in Taiping and Sri Jeganatha Swamigal's Sivalayam at Tapah. 

Many AVM family members benefitted from the Jeeva Nadi readings when Tavayogi brought the Nadi along with him to Malaysia.

Tavayogi, author of several books amongst them ANDAMUM PINDAMUM, ATMA GNANAM, ATMA TARISANAM, and ATMA THATHUVAM will soon release another book during the upcoming Guru Puja Vizha.

This year is a very memorable year where the Kallar Ashram sees a change in venue moving to a site closer and more accessible to the public made available with donations from many good samaritans. The Sarva Dosa Nivaarana Yagam this year will be held at this new Ashram grounds.