When I came to the path in 2002, seeking to know more about the worship of Siddhas as Agathiyar in my Nadi reading told me to take it up, I visited several movements, centers, ashrams, and Peedhams carrying Agathiyar's name. Soon, I came to hear from those who had left, cautioning me, saying that the Siddhas are dangerous and that they would break up families. I failed to believe that they were so cruel as to split families, just as I had questioned and doubted some 25 years earlier if God was indeed cruel enough to hurt his devotees and children. When Tavayogi came to officiate a Peedham in Batu Caves in 2005, I used to spend my after-office hours and weekends here just sitting in the presence of Tavayogi. That is when one Bala approached me, asking why I came and if I had problems. I replied that I had none and that I came because Agathiyar asked me to come to the worship of the Siddhas. He then went on to say that many came because they had problems. Over the years, I ask myself, as couples went their way, with often only one partner still faithful to the path, while the other stayed away, if what was implied by those who left was true. Similarly, when many came with their baggage and shed their burdens before Tavayogi, I began to believe in what Bala said.
But Tavayogi and Agathiyar proved it all wrong using my wife and me as a yardstick and an example to follow, reinforcing the marriage institution. If in the first three years I took up the worship by myself, not including the family, as I followed strictly what Agathiyar said, asking me to come to the worship and not mentioning the family, with the arrival of Tavayogi in 2005, he told me to bring the family to the worship, which I did after that. Then Agathiyar came as part of my family in the form of a bronze statue in 2010. Beginning in 2013, Agathiyar brought youths to my home to join our monthly Pornami Puja. In opening my doors to them, they watched and participated in the Siddha puja too.
Then Tavayogi came again in 2016 to attend and bless my daughter's wedding. With Agathiyar conveying the wishes of Tavayogi's guru Chitramuthu Adigal for us to conduct Siddha Puja in a temple in Taiping in a Nadi reading, we then brought the Siddha Puja into the corridors of the temples too. We brought the Siddha Puja into the homes of these youths, with Tavayogi and Agathiyar's statue gracing their homes. Their families, too, began to know about Siddha Puja.
Contrary to what was spoken of, the Siddhas did not split up families but brought them together in prayer.
Then Agathiyar surprised my family and me by asking me to carry out my 60th wedding on Guru Purnima of 2024, with him coming to grace, bless, and carry out the rituals.
Agathiyar trashed the notion that in coming to the Siddha path, the family shall break up by asking us to be an example to others. When he asked to leave my home to go to that of another, he came back shortly after with LobaMa also as a bronze statue, showing us that the Siddhas, too, are with their wives. They are now a pair in my family home that Lord Muruga says is his temple.
Another family that has weathered and withstood the test of time is that of Sri Krishna and Sri Dewy.
Today, we have shifted our focus to grooming the kids by opening up the floor at AVM for them to take the lead in carrying out Siddha Puja, which is a great change, and which I guess is what Lord Muruga said, that I shall do it differently.