Nothing the Siddhas said or did back then made sense, but today I can understand what was told after having experience. The JeevAtma in us, taking the tools on hand and those that are made available to us, can bring the ParamAtma to our plane. To know how my humble home became a temple, I have to walk you through the years of Siddha worship that my family and I carried out.
On 23rd September 2005, Tavayogi, with a big, wide grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, tells me, “Only now our actual journey begins”, as we left on the second leg of our tour. We were headed for Agasthiyampalli in Vedharanyam, Pothigai, Courtallam, and Palani as instructed in my Nadi. He was just as excited as I was. After putting up a night at a hotel in Trichy, we arrived the next day, 24th September 2005, at Agastiyampalli, Vedharanyam at 10.30 am. A temple priest who was sitting with two people at the entrance of the temple, on seeing us alight from the car, came forward to usher us into the temple grounds. He took us straight to Agathiyar’s shrine. He lighted camphor and showed the flame. Tavayogi and I sat on the floor. Tavayogi started singing a hymn. The priests interrupted him, asking us to go around the temple grounds and then to the main temple first. He insisted we pray at Lord Siva’s shrine first, as he was going away to another temple to conduct prayers. He gave instructions on how to go around the temple grounds. Tavayogi told me, "Let us oblige him". Tavayogi and I came around the temple grounds as the priests had instructed. We stepped into Lord Siva’s shrine, where the priest was waiting for us. He showed the flame. He explained that this was the very temple where Agathiyar pressed his thumb into the ground to balance the earth that had tilted due to the Devas, Gods, and Goddesses converging in the Himalayas for Lord Siva-Goddess Parvathy’s wedding. After praying at Lord Siva’s shrine, we came back to Agathiyar’s shrine. Tavayogi picked up singing the hymns from where he had left off. I continued with the Potri songs as usual. As I started reciting the ‘Pranavam’-‘AUM’ at Agathiyar’s shrine, I could hear and feel the ‘Pranavam’ reverberate and bounce off the granite walls. I felt a cool breeze sweep over me even as I was sweating away at the shrine. As I uttered the last line of the 'Potri' song, ‘OM MAA SIDDHARGALE POTRI,’ I broke down in tears. I cried and cried. I asked Agathiyar to open his eyes and see me, for Agathiyar had promised in my Nadi reading that he would do just that. He did not respond. I shut my eyes as I wept. I opened my eyes after some time, Tavayogi who was earlier seated opposite me, was not there anymore. I turned towards the entrance. He had moved to the open and was standing there. As I got up, he ushered me to his side and told me that Agathiyar had opened his eyes twice. “There is the aroma of sandalwood in the air, too,” he added. He asked that I stand at the same spot he had stood. “Concentrate on looking at the sage's eyes”, he said. I peered at the shrine, but I could hardly make out his figure, much less see him open and close his eyes. The shrine was dark, and we were standing outside in the mid-morning heat. I could sense Tavayogi’s disappointment that I could not see Agathiyar open his eyes. This I knew from the tone of his voice when he consoled me, “Never mind, son. Let us snap some photographs, shall we?” I entered Agathiyar’s shrine again and was about to sit when Tavayogi motioned me to sit with Agathiyar in the inner sanctum sanctorium saying, “Go in and sit at Agathiyar’s feet at the inner sanctum. He is our father. Who dares object?” That’s when Tavayogi throws his shawl over to me asking me to lay it on the floor to sit on as the floor had oil spills. As I laid his shawl and sat, I glanced at Agathiyar’s face, and what do I see? Agathiyar was observing me with an eye open. I looked hard, not believing. Only a moment ago, I had seen him with both eyes shut. The eyes were engraved into the granite, and I was sure they were engraved shut as I entered his shrine this morning. I was overcome with joy seeing Agathiyar look at me, and I called out to Tavayogi, “Swami…” Even before I could complete my sentence, Tavayogi understood and told me, “Right!, he has seen you, has he, come!, They will show (themselves) to you only for a moment.” Even as I came out from his shrine Agathiyar was looking at me with one eye shut, grinning away.
Inviting me to his path, Agathiyar beckons me to build a temple for him in my very first Nadi reading in 2002. Though I set out to carry it out, the response from existing temple commitees were not favorable, and I ditched the effort. In 2009, he instructed me to have his statue made, giving very specific instructions. It was to be in the image of Agathiyar that we saw in Agasthiyampalli; it had to be done in Swamimalai; and a puja was to be conducted at Adhi Kumbeswar temple, before he was brought over to Malaysia. We gathered with family and friends performing libation with nine items and chanting his name 100,000 times again, according to his directive in the Nadi.
I never decided to start worship of Siddhas. He had me start after my Nadi reading. In later years, he tells me that my daughter was the reason I came to the path of the Siddhas. I had no desire to leave the country and tour other nations. He had me leave on a pilgrimage to temples, on the pretext that I had erred in my past birth and needed to carry out remedies or Parikaram. I never desired to have his idol commissioned and made, but he told me that it was meant for the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Mritiga Brindavanam in Kinta, Ipoh, which my brother-in-law was building then. Later, Agathiyar decided to stay put in my home instead.
On the day of his arrival, 2nd January 2010, after he touched the ground at 11am, I was called for a Nadi reading at 12 noon. Agathiyar told me he would come in the statue and that I needed to give him Uru and Uyir (Spirit and Life). He said he will momentarily enter my body while my soul will reside in his idol. He will walk this ground and bless those who came to receive him during the Puja. Continuous Japa of the Mantra enhances the Uru or the spiritual energy in the statue of his too, he added.
As I was instructed in the Nadi, I followed without questioning. As simple as that. I carried out his desires. Hence, it all fell into place. If I had desired them, I would most likely have faced numerous hiccups, delays, obstacles, and financial losses. He saw to it that everything fell into place right from scouting on the net for a manufacturer of bronze sculptures based in Swamimalai, to switching the mode of freight in bringing him to our shores, from taking the ship as originally planned to arriving by plane instead. We laid our eyes on his photo only the day before his arrival, as the photo that was required for the airport and customs clearance was made available to me too. We revealed his figurine to a handful of family members and friends gathered to celebrate his Annual Jayanthi Puja on 3rd January 2010. He stole the show, none of which was decided or finalized by us. Agathiyar appreciated our move in bringing him over to other homes to conduct Kutu Pratanai or joint Puja. He told us that he would open his eyes and see those who chose to see him. In 2013, he opened his eyes in his statue. In 2018, Lord Muruga asked me to step aside and let them in. The moment I did that, all heaven broke loose. There was a torrent of rain in this case; it was the divine coming down to our plane, our home, and our body, heart, and soul. Lord Muruga runs me through what to expect in the years to come, including bringing up the subject of building a temple again. As I did not move, he said that my home was his temple.