2005. Two years after my last visit to Palani. As we stood in line for the gates to his chambers to be opened for the day I felt elated that this time around I was seeing Lord Muruga at Palani accompanied by my guru Tavayogi. But again I do not remember a single thing while there. We came away from his chamber into the open and crossed a courtyard to Bhogar's sannadhi. We moved into a corridor that was painted with murals depicting events in Bhogar's life. If this was Bhogar's sannadhi then where was I the first time I came to Palani? The route to Bhogar's sannadhi was different then.
As the senior priest began explaining to Tavayogi and my brother the origin of the temple, I walked across the room to the exit door and sat down again. Again a young priest was in attendance. As we stepped out of the chambers into the corridor the young priest reappeared in the corridor. Again he had a tumbler in his hands. He passed it to Tavayogi who was in front. Tavayogi took a gulp and passed the tumbler to my brother who was behind him. He took a gulp too and passed it to me. I emptied the milk down my throat and passed the tumbler back to the priest with a nod of thanks. I hurried behind Tavayogi and my brother who had already moved out into the open. That is when it happened again. I was in a state of bliss exactly as I had experienced on my first trip. I began to lag behind as Tavayogi and my brother walked ahead having a conversation. Suddenly Tavayogi stopped and looked at me asking, "What Son?" That moment I knew that he knew! He knew what was happening. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he turned towards me and asked the question with a grin. I just walked right up to him and laid my head on his chest. After a moment he turned around and continued walking. I was literally walking on air!
2016. As AVM family members and I stood in front of Lord Muruga at Palani, again I saw nothing that I could remember! How do I explain this? As we left Lord Murugan's sannadhi we stepped into a open courtyard and walked across to a flight of steps that took us into a corridor. We stood in line waiting to enter Bhogar's samadhi. As arati was shown this time by a young priest, tall and well built, fair and handsome, a lady who stood with us was chanting aloud a hymn for Bhuvaneswari. She left ahead of us as we stepped into the open. Then Bala Chandran wanted to chant the names of the Siddhas inside Bhogar's sannadhi. So we entered the door that led to the corridor again and positioned ourselves just outside Bhogar's chamber in a way as to not to obstruct other devotees from queuing up to see Bhogar. Then to our surprise the lady we saw earlier appeared and took a seat to the left of Bala. As it was closing time the temple aids were signalling us to hurry up but Bala was motioning them trying to buy more time. Bala began to speed up the pace of his chant as we followed suite. As the aids motioned us to end, the lady told Bala, "If the others want to leave they can but you stay and finish" (the rendition of all the names of the Siddhas). She gestured and told Bala to speed it up even faster. We all followed to Bala's momentum. The moment we ended the rendition she got up and entered Bhogar's sannadhi. She applied the holy ash and kumkum to some of us and speed off after blessing us. We came out of Bhogar's chamber in a daze and sat down in the courtyard trying to digest what had just happened in the secret chamber of Bhogar!
If in 2003 an elderly man clad in white vesti appeared at my car door as I was about to close it and blessed me, in 2016, an elderly lady who was clad in a saree, green to some, blue to others, blessed all of us from the AVM family at Sri Rangam.
We had just passed by her as we went seeking Ramanujar's samadhi in the courtyard of the temple when I turned back towards her and patted her cheeks. She was standing under the covered way with hands greeting us. As soon as Bala Chandran fell at her feet she looked towards the sky and began blessing him and turned her look towards every single one of us who were rooted to where we stood. There was something about her look that froze us. Amazing.
At Thiruvanaikaval, as I hastened into the temple looking out for Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi that broke me on my earlier visit in 2003 and 2013, a lady came up to me and placed prasad in my hands, right in front of Sri Jambukeshwarar's sannadhi. Again we were allowed into the sanctum and the priest shifted the water with his hands to show us that the linga was partially in water.
As we arrived at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi, Bala spotted both Agathiyar and Lobhama just some distance away. We made our way back to Agathiyar and Lobhama and offered our homage. As we took our places at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi and Bala began the recitation of the Siddhas' names, an elderly priest walked up to the shrine and unlocked the grills to the sanctum. When Bala stopped the recitation abruptly on seeing him, he gestured Bala to carry on while he stood in attendance listening on. Just as we were coming to the end of the recitation, he picked up the arati tool and lighted the flame, as if he knew we were about to end. The priest had no reason to be there but he appeared! Amazing.
2013. Jnana Jhothiamma who came down to Trichy from Chennai to greet us upon arrival accompanied me and my family to Thiruvanaikaval. Again I broke down at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi. Then Jnana Jhothiamma came up to me and whispered to me to place some token on the tray of the priest in attendance. I took some rupees from my wallet and approached him. He was tall and well built, fair and handsome with a green cloth wrapped around his waist. He was giving out the sacred ash to other devotees too. As I stood in front of him and placed the money on the tray that he held out in his hands, he asked me, "Did you see?", moving his eye from side to side and drawing my look towards Lord Dhakshanamurthy's statue. Immediately I saw Lord Muruga of Palani in the flesh in the form of the priest! What he had hidden from me all three times at Palani, he showed me at Thiruvanaikaval.
As the senior priest began explaining to Tavayogi and my brother the origin of the temple, I walked across the room to the exit door and sat down again. Again a young priest was in attendance. As we stepped out of the chambers into the corridor the young priest reappeared in the corridor. Again he had a tumbler in his hands. He passed it to Tavayogi who was in front. Tavayogi took a gulp and passed the tumbler to my brother who was behind him. He took a gulp too and passed it to me. I emptied the milk down my throat and passed the tumbler back to the priest with a nod of thanks. I hurried behind Tavayogi and my brother who had already moved out into the open. That is when it happened again. I was in a state of bliss exactly as I had experienced on my first trip. I began to lag behind as Tavayogi and my brother walked ahead having a conversation. Suddenly Tavayogi stopped and looked at me asking, "What Son?" That moment I knew that he knew! He knew what was happening. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he turned towards me and asked the question with a grin. I just walked right up to him and laid my head on his chest. After a moment he turned around and continued walking. I was literally walking on air!
2016. As AVM family members and I stood in front of Lord Muruga at Palani, again I saw nothing that I could remember! How do I explain this? As we left Lord Murugan's sannadhi we stepped into a open courtyard and walked across to a flight of steps that took us into a corridor. We stood in line waiting to enter Bhogar's samadhi. As arati was shown this time by a young priest, tall and well built, fair and handsome, a lady who stood with us was chanting aloud a hymn for Bhuvaneswari. She left ahead of us as we stepped into the open. Then Bala Chandran wanted to chant the names of the Siddhas inside Bhogar's sannadhi. So we entered the door that led to the corridor again and positioned ourselves just outside Bhogar's chamber in a way as to not to obstruct other devotees from queuing up to see Bhogar. Then to our surprise the lady we saw earlier appeared and took a seat to the left of Bala. As it was closing time the temple aids were signalling us to hurry up but Bala was motioning them trying to buy more time. Bala began to speed up the pace of his chant as we followed suite. As the aids motioned us to end, the lady told Bala, "If the others want to leave they can but you stay and finish" (the rendition of all the names of the Siddhas). She gestured and told Bala to speed it up even faster. We all followed to Bala's momentum. The moment we ended the rendition she got up and entered Bhogar's sannadhi. She applied the holy ash and kumkum to some of us and speed off after blessing us. We came out of Bhogar's chamber in a daze and sat down in the courtyard trying to digest what had just happened in the secret chamber of Bhogar!
If in 2003 an elderly man clad in white vesti appeared at my car door as I was about to close it and blessed me, in 2016, an elderly lady who was clad in a saree, green to some, blue to others, blessed all of us from the AVM family at Sri Rangam.
We had just passed by her as we went seeking Ramanujar's samadhi in the courtyard of the temple when I turned back towards her and patted her cheeks. She was standing under the covered way with hands greeting us. As soon as Bala Chandran fell at her feet she looked towards the sky and began blessing him and turned her look towards every single one of us who were rooted to where we stood. There was something about her look that froze us. Amazing.
At Thiruvanaikaval, as I hastened into the temple looking out for Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi that broke me on my earlier visit in 2003 and 2013, a lady came up to me and placed prasad in my hands, right in front of Sri Jambukeshwarar's sannadhi. Again we were allowed into the sanctum and the priest shifted the water with his hands to show us that the linga was partially in water.
As we arrived at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi, Bala spotted both Agathiyar and Lobhama just some distance away. We made our way back to Agathiyar and Lobhama and offered our homage. As we took our places at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi and Bala began the recitation of the Siddhas' names, an elderly priest walked up to the shrine and unlocked the grills to the sanctum. When Bala stopped the recitation abruptly on seeing him, he gestured Bala to carry on while he stood in attendance listening on. Just as we were coming to the end of the recitation, he picked up the arati tool and lighted the flame, as if he knew we were about to end. The priest had no reason to be there but he appeared! Amazing.
2013. Jnana Jhothiamma who came down to Trichy from Chennai to greet us upon arrival accompanied me and my family to Thiruvanaikaval. Again I broke down at Lord Dhakshanamurthy's sannadhi. Then Jnana Jhothiamma came up to me and whispered to me to place some token on the tray of the priest in attendance. I took some rupees from my wallet and approached him. He was tall and well built, fair and handsome with a green cloth wrapped around his waist. He was giving out the sacred ash to other devotees too. As I stood in front of him and placed the money on the tray that he held out in his hands, he asked me, "Did you see?", moving his eye from side to side and drawing my look towards Lord Dhakshanamurthy's statue. Immediately I saw Lord Muruga of Palani in the flesh in the form of the priest! What he had hidden from me all three times at Palani, he showed me at Thiruvanaikaval.
On the way up to the Uchipilaiyar temple in 2016, who should I meet but the mute man who appeared mysteriously and led and guided my family and me on a specific path in worship around the temple three years earlier. My family and I were coming in circles looking for Tayumanar's sannadhi when we heard a loud clap of the hands. An old man was clapping his hands and motioning us with hand gestures from his seat some distance away. He got up from the ground as we approached him and lead us hurriedly to several sannadhis before staying back and showing us up a flight of steps to Lord Shiva.
At Brahmapureeswarar temple the AVM family is called over to Ambal's sannadhi where surprisingly the priest shares with us a meditation technique that went along with a universal prayer for the well being of all of Erai's creation. Upon reciting after him, it energized our palms too.
At the Adhi Kumbeswarar Agathiyar sannadhi, a devotee of Agathiyar, Siddha medicine practitioner and current caretaker is told to drop what he was doing and head for his sannadhi. He hurries into the sannadhi and unlocks the grill doors. Again the doors to Erai's chambers open as we sat reciting the names of the Siddhas. Amazing!
At Kuthambai Siddha's Jeeva samadhi at the Arulmigu Sri Mayuranathaswami Temple, Mayiladuthurai (Mayavaram), we experienced the Siddhas presence that was so overwhelming that the ground shook as Bala Chandran recited the names of the Siddhas and we followed.
A similar phenomena was felt at Sundarananthar Vallabha Siddhar Sannadhi at the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple in Madurai as we began to recite the names of the Siddhas.
As we arrived late at night at the Arulmigu Koraka Siddhar Jeeva Samadhi Peedham, in Vadakku Poigai Nalloor to spent the night at the temple as asked of Dyalen, to our disappointment the gates were closed. As we settled to spent the night in the cold on the verandah of the temple suddenly a voice asked, “Where are you coming from?”(Yengiranthu Varinga?) As we looked around for the source of the voice, he asked the same question. Shanga replied that we were from Malaysia. Immediately the voice ask if we would like to enter? (Ulle Varingala?) Then we saw a figure get up from under a blanket and move to the gate. We were allowed access into the temple to spend the night.
There was more to come that night. See https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.my/2017/01/destination-india-day-3.html
2005. When Tavayogi during his morning walk tells me Agathiyar came and they discussed about me, I just looked back at him with disbelief as questions raced through my mind. When he brought me to the Siddha sites and he tells me the Siddhas have come, pointing me to certain signs of their arrival and their presence, I looked towards the direction but saw nothing, smelt nothing nor sensed their presence. Again I turned to him with disbelief as questions raced through my mind. But today I am a firm believer of miracles. Hence this blog came to be.
Recite the names of the Siddhas and all doors, both external and internal, shall unlock!