Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram, who had concluded his life as a traveling mendicant, his last stop being Sathuragiri, had wanted to go into Samadhi. But Agathiyar changed his plans and instead asked him to look out for a place called Agathiyar Vanam and pitch a hut and an ashram. And so he located the place to be at the foothills of Kallar Hill. After my maiden visit to his ashram upon taking up his invitation and following the directive of Agathiyar in the Nadi when he was in Malaysia in 2005, he instructed me to conduct an annual puja for Agathiyar, just as he did at his ashram grounds, which included lighting a fire pit, or Yagna, or Yagam, once I was back home. Subsequently, I carried out puja and homam with my family to coincide with the day and time he carried out at his ashram. If lighting the Homam began to coincide with 2pm IST when Tavayogi carried it out, Agathiyar switched the time of lighting the Homam to precisely the time of his birth, which he revealed to me in my Nadi reading. It was 10.58 minutes after the birth of the star Ahilyam. Somewhere along the way, Agathiyar then switched the day to coincide with Thaipusam. I did as told without hesitation or question.
In 2010, he came as a bronze statue to my home. In 2013, Agathiyar sent over many youths to watch and participate in the monthly Pornami puja, which I did too. I used to extend an invitation to all. All this stopped in the wake of the pandemic in 2019. When he brought down the shutters on Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) in 2019, the regular monthly puja and charity that we used to do came to an end. Post-pandemic, we continued puja, now in the homes of a handful who invited him over and whom Agathiyar wished to visit. This, too, came to a halt when Agathiyar told me he would not wish to leave my home henceforth. He asked to retain the annual puja on Thaipusam. He told me to extend an invitation to only those who remembered and called to ask if it was on.
Some time back, I put a thought to him that I would stop carrying out this year's annual puja that shall fall on 1st February. He sent a family who are newcomers to AVM, and they kept asking when I was conducting a puja. I kept telling them that there was no puja in my premises and the only one that I was asked to continue with was this annual puja, which I was considering stopping too. That is when, several days later, Agathiyar tells me to carry it out since this family had requested it. So it seems that even if one devotee desired it, I had to keep doing it. Now I understand why Tavayogi, who always reminded us to come out of Bakti, began to build an ashram and temple. He told me that it was not for him but for others. Now I am wondering who this family is and their bond to Agathiyar that he has asked me to carry out his annual puja, not for him nor to praise him, but to please this particular family. I wonder what he has in store for them and all the rest who remember the day and call to attend. Make a date with him (1st February 2026 at 11am) and find out.