18 Siddhar Temple, Madambakkam – History
Siddhas (called as Siddhars in South India) are people
who are believed to have got divine power through penance. It is also believed
that they are still alive and are not visible to everyone. They have invented
many medicines which has resulted in a separate domain called 'Siddha
medicine'. Although there are hundreds of Siddhas, 18 Siddhas are considered as
the most important Siddhas. To facilitate worshipping of the Siddhas at one
place, a temple for 18 Siddhas is built in Madambakkam near Chennai. A Meru
hill made of a green stone is worshipped as Shiva-Shakti. There is a procedure
to worship each Siddha each day with such flowers and Vastras-clothing
attributed to each Siddha with related neivedhyam-food offering.
This universal shrine for worship is built by Guruji
KVLN Sharmaji principle disciple of Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal. He was born
in Kancheepuram to Sri. Varadarajan and Smt. Maragadambal a devout couple from
a family of Sri Vidya Upasakars, Sri Seshadri Swamigal was believed to be the
gift of Goddess Kamakshi. A very notable incident in his life as a young boy-
when he was four on his way to Varadaraja Perumal Swami temple in Kancheepuram
he ran up to a shopkeeper and asked for the idol of Lord Krishna. The
shopkeeper was delighted to see such devotion in a young boy and gladly gave it
to him.
Then discovered that he had sold a hundred such idols
within that day. He would have barely sold a fifty in months, otherwise. The
man referred to the Sathguru as Thanga Kai (Golden Hand). In his teens the
sage disappeared from a locked room. It was the family's idea to keep him bound
to them and not let go of him. He went to Tiruvannamalai where he remained for
40 glorious years until his Maha Samadhi, Guru and Master to hundreds of
disciples who made their way to him in pain only to find solace in his
presence.
Innumerable miracles are related to the Sathguru and his
protection of his disciples. For the Guru the body is just an instrument and so
even after his Maha Samadhi he chooses some disciple's body to be accessible to
guide the rest of the world through him. Even after his Maha Samadhi in 1929
Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal of Tiruvannamalai continues to guide his
disciples from the numinous plane.
