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Saturday, February 29, 2020

18 Siddhar Temple, Madambakkam – History

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.