RVR
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Folks,
There are several great saints who are unknown to public but still live with us.
There are several saints living in Tiruvannamalai who are really very simple, doesn't bother about materialism, doesn't like publicity and live in remote caves. How they manage their food on day to day is a big question .
Some of my friends have told me that they have met several such people in Haridwar, Rishikesh and other parts of Himalayas.
They are beyond religion, caste, language or race and are true living saints.
They live a life as envisioned by Saint Thiagayya' s Endaro Mahanubhavulu. Full meaning of the song is available in the following url
Endaro
I want to discuss about such living saints in this forum.
I request members not to bring fraudulent God men into this thread and we will restrict it only to real great saints who are not generally visible to public.
Let me start with my personal experience with one such great personality whom I have personally met.
Swamy Anvananda
Swamy Anvananda turned down materialistic life and dedicated himself to spirituality.
His earlier name was Parthasarathy. He was born to Late Srinivasa Iyengar, one of the earliest Presidents of the Congress Party during freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi was much junior to him and use to stay with him during his Chennai visit.
Parthasarathi did Bar at Law in London and had an excellent legal practice in Chennai. He founded Prithivi Life Insurance company during British rule and was its Managing Director till it was nationalised and taken over by Life Insurance Company of India.
He had enormous wealth and had a luxurious life. He had children also. He was not very much attached to religion also. He had the habit of collecting idols, crafts etc and one day he collected an idol of a Hindu Goddess from a fisherman. Some how he got attracted to the idol and placed it in his compound under a tree.
He was interested in Tamil Literature and once Vallimalai Sachidanda Swamigal visited him after his trip to Vaishno Devi temple in Kashmir. He told Parthasarathi that the idol resembles Vaishavi and your destiny is with Goddess Vaishnavi.
Parthasarathi's interest in the idol increased eventhough he was against idol worship throughout his earlier life.
One fine morning he left his family and the luxurious home with the idol and went to their mango farm at Tirumullaivayil. It was a forest like environment in those days. It it a forty acre plus area with full of mango trees, snakes and other poisonous creatures.
He installed the idol in the farm with the help of Vallimalai swamigal. No agama sastras were followed for installation and only Tiruppugazh was recited at the installation ceremony.
He turned to Sanyasi life and was known as Swami Anvananda.
He lived in a thatched roof shed where snakes use to cross regularly. He never had proper food. He lived a very very ordinary life in the farm and refused to return to normal life in spite of repeated requests from his family members and fellow businessman. Late Sri Santhanam S/O T.V.Sundaram Iyengar is his close friend and use to visit him regularly. Whatever property he had in his personal name, he spent on charities. He asked his erstwhile family members to take all the properties in the joint name .
He died in the early eighties and refused to return home in spite of his sickness and old age. An orphan boy Palani (not belonging to TB community) helped him in his old age. He arranged Upanayanam for the boy and also marriage subsequently. Palani is fully devoted to the temple and is still living in the temple premises carrying out the job of his master.
He made the temple open to all irrespective of religion, caste or race. He allowed ladies of all caste and religion to perform poojas directly to Devi. Today the area has grown into a full fledged town whereas those days reaching the place itself was a big problem. The temple has become an important place of worship in Chennai.
Even if the crowd is large, no paid darshan is practiced. Archanas are not done on individual names and all are performed in the name of Goddess Vaishnavi only.
One of his sisters joined him later after spending her life on social work and died few days after the death of Anvananda ji.
His daughter Vasanthi, also joined him later in life and lived in a simple cottage in the temple premises. She died just few years back.
It is a case study of a great personality who moved from materialistic life to spiritual life.
Details about the temple is available in the following weblink
Sri Vaishnavi Shrine, Aavadi (Chennai)
All the best
There are several great saints who are unknown to public but still live with us.
There are several saints living in Tiruvannamalai who are really very simple, doesn't bother about materialism, doesn't like publicity and live in remote caves. How they manage their food on day to day is a big question .
Some of my friends have told me that they have met several such people in Haridwar, Rishikesh and other parts of Himalayas.
They are beyond religion, caste, language or race and are true living saints.
They live a life as envisioned by Saint Thiagayya' s Endaro Mahanubhavulu. Full meaning of the song is available in the following url
Endaro
I want to discuss about such living saints in this forum.
I request members not to bring fraudulent God men into this thread and we will restrict it only to real great saints who are not generally visible to public.
Let me start with my personal experience with one such great personality whom I have personally met.
Swamy Anvananda
Swamy Anvananda turned down materialistic life and dedicated himself to spirituality.
His earlier name was Parthasarathy. He was born to Late Srinivasa Iyengar, one of the earliest Presidents of the Congress Party during freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi was much junior to him and use to stay with him during his Chennai visit.
Parthasarathi did Bar at Law in London and had an excellent legal practice in Chennai. He founded Prithivi Life Insurance company during British rule and was its Managing Director till it was nationalised and taken over by Life Insurance Company of India.
He had enormous wealth and had a luxurious life. He had children also. He was not very much attached to religion also. He had the habit of collecting idols, crafts etc and one day he collected an idol of a Hindu Goddess from a fisherman. Some how he got attracted to the idol and placed it in his compound under a tree.
He was interested in Tamil Literature and once Vallimalai Sachidanda Swamigal visited him after his trip to Vaishno Devi temple in Kashmir. He told Parthasarathi that the idol resembles Vaishavi and your destiny is with Goddess Vaishnavi.
Parthasarathi's interest in the idol increased eventhough he was against idol worship throughout his earlier life.
One fine morning he left his family and the luxurious home with the idol and went to their mango farm at Tirumullaivayil. It was a forest like environment in those days. It it a forty acre plus area with full of mango trees, snakes and other poisonous creatures.
He installed the idol in the farm with the help of Vallimalai swamigal. No agama sastras were followed for installation and only Tiruppugazh was recited at the installation ceremony.
He turned to Sanyasi life and was known as Swami Anvananda.
He lived in a thatched roof shed where snakes use to cross regularly. He never had proper food. He lived a very very ordinary life in the farm and refused to return to normal life in spite of repeated requests from his family members and fellow businessman. Late Sri Santhanam S/O T.V.Sundaram Iyengar is his close friend and use to visit him regularly. Whatever property he had in his personal name, he spent on charities. He asked his erstwhile family members to take all the properties in the joint name .
He died in the early eighties and refused to return home in spite of his sickness and old age. An orphan boy Palani (not belonging to TB community) helped him in his old age. He arranged Upanayanam for the boy and also marriage subsequently. Palani is fully devoted to the temple and is still living in the temple premises carrying out the job of his master.
He made the temple open to all irrespective of religion, caste or race. He allowed ladies of all caste and religion to perform poojas directly to Devi. Today the area has grown into a full fledged town whereas those days reaching the place itself was a big problem. The temple has become an important place of worship in Chennai.
Even if the crowd is large, no paid darshan is practiced. Archanas are not done on individual names and all are performed in the name of Goddess Vaishnavi only.
One of his sisters joined him later after spending her life on social work and died few days after the death of Anvananda ji.
His daughter Vasanthi, also joined him later in life and lived in a simple cottage in the temple premises. She died just few years back.
It is a case study of a great personality who moved from materialistic life to spiritual life.
Details about the temple is available in the following weblink
Sri Vaishnavi Shrine, Aavadi (Chennai)
All the best
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