Tamil Siddhars

[Seeker]

Just returned from a trip to India and was blessed enough to visit few temples. I also had a great opportunity to converse with someone who was very knowledgeable about Tamil siddhas. He also offered me a free Tamil book ‘siddhar pattugal’. My desire is that I will be able to read and understand their writings.

I liked all the aspects about siddhas – they denounced rituals , caste based prejudices , sexism , and have eloquently stated those in their poems. They were ascetics , and all of them invariably stated that we need to find Easwar within ourselves. They came from all walks of life – Vasuki , Avvaiyar , Karaikal Ammiayar were women. Sakkili sithhar was an untouchable, but he gave diksha to Siva vakiya siddhar , who was a brahmin. Pattinathar siddhar was a merchant. Kamalamuni siddhar was a kuravar (wandering tribal). Pogar siddhar (gave diksha to Babaji Maharaj) was chinese , who settled in Tamil Nadu. Ramadevar siddhar (Yakub siddhar) was an arab who became a Siva bhaktar , who settled in Nagapattinam. All of them lived long lives .

I also learnt that the famous temples of Tamil Nadu are the Samadhi sites of these siddhas. Someone more familiar with Tamil history can shed some lights on this assertion.

I also found a link about 18 founding siddhas by googling. Enjoy reading about them.

[Viraja]

Many siddhars seem to be connected to Murugan worship. It reminds me of Siddhar Bogar whose 'Navapaashaana' Murugan idol is worshipped at Palani. They say, Siddhars still live but are invisible to the eye... is it true?

[Twilightdance]

I would hesitate to believe in modern writers and self claimed lineage holders of tamil siddhar movement. Associations with Kriya yoga babaji among some of these authors makes me suspect of their authenticity. If one believes Lahiri Mahasaya and Yogananda's stories there is no reason not to believe alien ancestor theory or the swiss author daniken. It is necessary to have traceable and believable lineage to be accepted as authentic, nothing about the kriya yoga movement gives that reason.

Tamil siddhar is just one wing of the pan Indian medieval religious revolution of siddha. Siddhanta, Natha, Kaula, ranging on to Kapalika, Sahajiya and Vajrayana are all outcome of this single but multidimensional religious revolution of sorts that swept India. Some like Siddhanta and Vajrayana organized themselves within the established religions but all downplayed conventional religious wisdom either explicitly or implicitly.

It would be interesting to know what impact did this movement have on vaishnava religion (if at all it had any significant presence during the period). Is Agamic vaishnavism treading the same lines as purinitical puranic/vedantic vaishnava schools or they also revolt against conventional religious opinion? Was there any heresy in vaishnavism other than the ridiculed vaishnava sahajiya's of bengal?

[deepakk79]

Seeker, not only that, even Siva, Murugan and Vittinu were themselves ancient Siddhars. So was Gautama Buddha and Magaveera.

Its only through Tamil Siddhar tradition that the origin of Hindu Gods can be understood and clarified.

I will be posting about this in detail in a separate thread very soon.

[Seeker]

Many siddhars seem to be connected to Murugan worship. It reminds me of Siddhar Bogar whose 'Navapaashaana' Murugan idol is worshipped at Palani. They say, Siddhars still live but are invisible to the eye... is it true?

Namaste Viraja ji,

Just finished reading the 'mudhalam thandhiram' by Thirumoolar. It is all about Siva worship. I am also reading Sivavakiyar poems. Both of them seem to be Shiva worshipers.

From reading Thirumandhiram , I get a feeling that Thriumoolar states that siddha's transform into Shiva. Need to read the entire text to understand this. He states that Lord Shiva instructed Nandhi at the foothills of Kailash (again I think he refers a human when he states Nandhii ) and Nandhi instructed the tatvas to Thirumoolar. In his poems he refers Nandhi in the same context as Shiva.

[Seeker]

Seeker, not only that, even Siva, Murugan and Vittinu were themselves ancient Siddhars. So was Gautama Buddha and Magaveera.

Its only through Tamil Siddhar tradition that the origin of Hindu Gods can be understood and clarified.

I will be posting about this in detail in a separate thread very soon.

Thanks Deepak ji,

Hope to see you posting soon.

DO you mean Vishnu when you state Vittinu?

[ShivaFan]

Namaste Seeker

I am very excited for you Seeker! Your life is an example of the opportunity of life given to us, and what we do or choose to make of it. You are already on such wonderful and liberating path of adventure, discovery and true self, that I pray you continue on and be willing to share with us what you discover on your path!

Om Namah Sivaya

[Viraja]

From reading Thirumandhiram , I get a feeling that Thriumoolar states that siddha's transform into Shiva. Need to read the entire text to understand this.

Exactly what I have been wondering about too, Seeker ji! I used to think that every profound sadhaka will have a chance to the supreme one day - upon some reflection, it always did not mean anything to me when given the idea all the sadhakas attain eventually is 'emancipation' free from birth and death and dwelling in the abode of god. In the Universe, god has willed that there is uniformity in justice to all. So when considering this factor, it appeared to me too that once a sadhaka, is the same person that gets promoted to the god head at some point of time. I do not know what happens to the old god-head at that point, maybe the sadhaka attains 'oneness' with the Brahman but then whose consciousness prevails? I believe that is why the sadhakas undergo the prolonged mukti period - I believe their consciousness is of that state that it is no different from the consciousness of the brahman.

Kindly post your clarificatory post after you have read the entire Thirumanthiram. I shall look forward to it.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: The Tirumanthiram is no light read. I have the Ramakrishna Math translation, and its difficult, to put it mildly. Maybe I'm just some dumb guy though. He wrote metaphorically a lot, and its in Old Tamil. I only got through the first 20 pages or so. I read Manikavasagar's Tiruvacagam a long time ago, but nothing from it really stuck.

But the truths of such works lie inside you, not between the covers of a book. Good luck getting through it, and actually grasping some of it.

Aum Namasivaya

[Seeker]

namaste,
Does anyone know how the Tamil units of measure 'mathirai' and 'nazhigai' translate into seconds / minutes? some siddhas use these units in reference to yoga practices