About Siddhas

ABOUT SIDDHARS A siddhar is one who has attained "Ashtama Siddhis". The ashtama siddhis are as follows: 1. Anima (shrinking) -- Power of becoming the size of an atom and entering the smallest beings. 2. Mahima (illimitability) -- Power of becoming mighty and co-extensive with the universe. The power of increasing one's size without limit. 3. Lagima (lightness) -- Capacity to be quite light though big in size. 4. Garima (weight) -- Capacity to weigh heavy, though seemingly small size. 5. Prapthi (fulfillment of desires) -- Capacity to enter all the worlds from Brahma Loga to the neither world. It is the power of attaining everything desired. 6. Prakasysm (irresistable will) -- Power of disembodying and entering into other bodies (metempsychosis) and going to heaven and enjoying what everyone aspires for, simply from where he stays. 7. Isithavam (supremacy) -- Have the creative power of God and control over the Sun, the moon and the elements and 8. Vasithavam (dominion over the elements) -- Power of control over King and Gods. The power of changing the course of nature and assuming any form. Generally siddhars are considered to be super human beings who have defined age and other laws of nature to which all human beings are defined to. The historians of Alexander the great, spoke of the existence of a class of mystics called Gymnosophists in all countries from Egypt to India .These siddhars were found in Alexandria in as late as the fourth century A.D. There are 18 siddhars in the Tamil siddha tradition. Each of the siddhars had lived in varied places under different names. The following are most common names of the 18 siddhars. They are listed in the order of their time period. 1. Sri Agasthiyar Siddhar 2. Sri Pathanjali Siddhar 3. Sri Kamalamuni Siddhar 4. Sri Thirumoolar Siddhar 5. Sri Kuthambai Siddhar 6. Sri Korakkar Siddhar 7. Sri Thanvandri Siddhar 8. Sri Sundaranandar Siddhar 9. Sri Konganar Siddhar 10. Sri Sattamuni Siddhar 11. Sri Vanmeegar Siddhar 12. Sri Ramadevar Siddhar

13. Sri Nandeeswarar Siddhar 14. Sri Edaikkadar Siddhar 15. Sri Machamuni Siddhar 16. Sri Karuvoorar Siddhar 17. Sri Bogar Siddhar 18. Sri Pambatti Siddhar

The Other Siddhars Apart from the 18 siddhars given above, there are also other siddhars. It is possible that the siddhars given below are the same siddhars (the 18 siddhars), but under different name. They might also be the disciples of the siddhars, who by the process 'Transmigration of Souls' became the one and same as the Guru himself.

PATHANJALI SIDDHAR Sri Pathanjali is considered the first siddhar. The information on Pathanjali is available only in Purana's. Pathanjali is considered as a form / incarnation of Adiseshan (the snake associated with Lord Vishnu). Lord Vishnu sleeps over Adiseshan. Once, Lord Vishnu saw the Siva Thandava (the divine dance of Lord Siva) and got extremely happy. Adisheshan could not bear the weight of Lord Vishnu in such a state. So, when Adiseshan informed Lord Vishnu of his difficulty, He was told about the Siva Thandava. Adiseshan also wanted to see the Siva thandava. So he did penance and Lord Siva appeared before him and granted his wish to see the divine dance. Lord Siva told him that he and Viyakramabathar would see his dance in the southern city of Thillai. Thillai is the other name of Chidambaram and it houses the famous Nataraja temple (please refer to the note below for details about the dance of Lord Siva). Hence, Adisesha came to Thillai in South India and performed poojas for Lord Siva along with Viyakramabathar. Eventually, both of them witnessed the Siva Thandava. Afterwards, Pathanjali (Adisesha) stayed in Thillai forests for a long time. He wanted to teach his script (Vyagarana Suthiram) to his disciples in the thousandpillar structure in Thillai. However, Pathanjali was afraid that Himself being the form of Adisesha, his disciples would be burnt when they come near his breath. Hence, he arranged for a partition between himself and his disciples. He taught his disciples sitting behind the partition. Sixty students (disciples) were learning

under him. The students were very much impressed with their master and were anxious to see his face. Once, a student got very apprehensive and pulled the partition to see the face of the master. All the students were burnt at the same instant. However, one of the students, Kaubathar did not attend the lecture on that day due to an external work. On seeing his fellow students being burnt to ashes, Kaubathar was terrified. Pathanjali changed his form and pacified his student. Pathanjali was very happy that one of his disciples is alive and he taught all the skills to his disciple, Kaubathar. Kaubathar's disciple is Govinda Bhawat Badal, who is also considered as the Guru of Adi Sankaracharya. There are varied schools of thought that the Pathanjali who wrote "Maha Bashyam" in North India is different from the Pathanjali who wrote "Gyana Sutra" in Tamil. As siddhars have been known to live for ages, the period of the life of Pathanjali and the exact duration of his life can not be known. Moreover, there are no definitive texts available about Pathanjali. Both Pathanjali and Viyakramabathar had lived in Tamil Nadu in a period where siddhars had also lived there. Both of them had observed the divine dance of Lord Siva at Thillai in Tamil Nadu. Both of them attained their Samadhi at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. Hence the argument that Pathanjali could not have written texts in Tamil could not be true. KAMALAMUNI SIDDHAR The following information is available about Sri Kamalamuni in the book " Bogar 7000 " written by siddhar Bogar. Song 5729: Kamalamuni was born on the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May - June), his birth star being 2nd part of Poosam. He lived for six-eight generations. Song 5841: Kamalamuni is 4000 years and some 300 odd (days) old. He lived in China for a long time. Many people believe that Sri Kalangi Nathar is siddhar Kamalamuni. In the 63 rd song of " Kamalamuni Suthiram 76 ", a line says that " Kamalamuni alias Kalangi ". Hence it can me true that Sri Kalangi Nathar is siddhar Kamalamuni himself. In " Bogar Janana Sasthra ", it is mentioned that Kamalamuni attained samadhi at Madurai .

PAMBATTI SIDDHAR The most popular and well known of the siddhar’s is "Pambatti Siddhar”. He

takes the snake for a symbol to represent the human Soul and uses the expression: "AODU PAMBE" (De thou, Dance Snake) as a refrain at the end of each stanza of his poem. The poem of this siddhar is in fewer than six hundred lines and deals with philosophic and spiritual matters in the authentic siddhar pattern with great passion. He sings Lord Siva as the Supreme Power of the Universe. There is a poem on his Guru, Who is credited with super natural powers. “We can make men women", he says and adds, "We can destroy" this great universe. He asserts that they have power equal to that of God and can control the elements. He is there, merely expatiating on the Ashtama Siddhis, which is believed to confer eight kinds of devises and super natural powers on those who have achieved it. MACHAMUNI SIDDHAR In the Encyclopedic dictionary authored by T.V. Sambasivam Pillai (Reference 1), a strange story is told. " Machamuni is a siddhar. He was the child brought up by Pinnakeesar. He is also Pinakeesar's disciple. There is a story that once Lord Siva was preaching Uma Devi. Uma Devi had slept when Lord Siva was preaching her. However, a fish was listening to the lecture. Later on that fish was transformed into Siddhar Machamuni by Lord Siva." Also in song 5873, he says that Machamuni was born on the Rohini star in the Tamil month of Adi (July-August). Machamuni in his 97th song of his book " Machamuni Thandagam 100 ", mentions the words "Guru Nandhi" and "Guru Bogar", while offering prayers to his guru. Hence, it can be said that Siddhar Bogar and Siddhar Nandeeswarar were his gurus. Machamuni also mentions about the Siva Thandava witnessed by siddhar Pathanjali in one of his songs. Hence, it can be said that he had lived in the period when siddhar Pathanjali and Sri Viyakrabathar witnessed the Siva Thandava in Thillai. Thillai is the other name of Chidambaram and is one of the 5 dance halls of Lord Siva. In the book " Agasthiar 12000 ", in the fifth Kandam, siddhar Agasthiar says that Machamuni had taken lessons from Kaga Bugandar. He also says that he donated all his wealth to poor people on attaining spiritual salvation. Machamuni attained samadhi at Thiruparankundram. Some of the books written by Machamuni are • • • • •

Machamuni Perunool Kaviyam 800 Machamuni Sarakku Vaippu 800 Machamuni Vagaram 800 Machamuni Yogam 800 Machamuni Vaithiyam 800

• • • • • • • • •

Machamuni Thirumandiram 800 Machamuni Gyanam 800 Machamuni Vedantham 800 Machamuni Gurunool 800 Machamuni Thitchavidhi 100 Machamuni Thandagam 100 Machamuni Gyana Thitchai 50 Machamuni Sthoola Sukkuma Karana Gyanam 30 Machamuni Suthiram 21

SUNDARANANDAR SIDDHAR Sri Sundaranandar is the disciple of siddhar Sattamuni. It is believed that he got the Siva Linga of siddhar Agastiar, established it in Saduragiri and worshipped it. Saduragiri Sundara Mahalingam temple comes under the Thaniparai area of Saptur reserve forests in Tamil Nadu. It is located in Watrap, Viruthunagar district. Srivilliputtur is the big city located near Saduragiri. For thousands of years, realized sages and siddhars lived there worshipping the Siva Linga called " Sundara Mahalingam ". " Sundaram " means, the handsome One, " Maha " means great and lingam means " Siva, the Supreme Self ". This mountain shrine is a considered as a dwelling place of siddhars. This can also be attributed to the numerous medicinal plants available in the Saduragiri Mountains . There is also a cave called " Thavasi Parai " in Saduragiri. Sundaranandar and his Guru Sattamuni lived there. Siddhar Bogar sings about Sundaranandar in songs 5828 and 5829 in his book " Bogar 7000 ". He says that Sundarandar was an expert in space travel and samadhi yoga. In songs 5920 and 5921, Bogar gives the following information. Sundaranandar was born on the Tamil month of Aavani (August - September) on the star Revathi (3 rd part). He is the grand son of Navakanda Rishi living in the Kishkinta hills and that he belonged to Agamudayar (Thevar) class. Siddhar Agasthiar in his book " Amudha Kalai Gyanam " also says that Sundaranandar is a Reddy in song 218. Sundaranandar attained his samadhi at Madurai . The following are the books of Sundaranandar. • • • • • • •

Sundaranandar Vaithiya Thirattu 1500 Sundaranandar Vaithya Kaviyam 1000 Sundaranandar Merpadi Suthiram 500 Sundaranandar Vagaram 200 Sundaranandar Aathetha Suthiram 104 Sundaranandar Vatha Suthiram 100 Sundaranandar Visha Nivarani 100

• • • • • • • • • •

Sundaranandar Vakiya Suthiram 66 Sundaranandar Kesari 55 Sundaranandar Suttha Gyanam 51 Sundaranandar Thitchavithi 50 Sundaranandar Thandagam 47 Sundaranandar Kesari Poojavithi 37 Sundaranandar Athisaya Karanam 36 Sundaranandar Sivayoga Gyanam 32 Sundaranandar Muppu 25 Sundaranandar Sivagyana Botham 16

VAANMEEGAR SIDDHAR Sri Vaanmeegar's birth star is Anusham in the Tamil month of Purattasi (September-October). There is an argument that the Valmiki who wrote Valmiki Ramayana is different from the siddhar Vaanmeegar of the south. However, siddhar Bogar in his script "Bogar 7000" proclaims that they are one and the same. He says that Vaanmeegar is the name of the siddhar who wrote Valmiki Ramayana in song (verse) number 5834. He makes a clear distinction between the names Vaanmeegar and Valmiki. Further, in his next song (verse number 5835), Bogar says that Vaanmeegar's age is 700 and some odd days. He also says that he is a learned scholar in Tamil language. He also makes a reference about his samadhi. It is also said that Sri Vaanmeegar alias Valmiki wrote the epic Ramaya on getting the spiritual knowledge from Narada. Sri Vaanmeegar's samadhi is located at Ettukudi in Tamil Nadu.

Table of 18 Siddhars Sl. Name of the No Siddhar

Tamil month Tamil Birth of Birth Star

1

Sri Pathanjali

Panguni

Moolam

2

Sri Agasthiar

Markazhi

Aayilyam

Vaikasi

Poosam

Purattathi

Avittam

3 4

Sri Kamalamuni Sri Thirumoolar

5

Sri Kuthambai Aadi

Visagam

6

Sri Korakkar

Aayilyam

7

Sri Thanvandri Iyppasi

Karthigai

Punarpoosam

Duration of Life 5 Yugas 7 Days 4 Yugas 48 Days 4000 Years 48 Days 3000 Years 13 Days 1800 Years 16 Days 880 Years 11 Days 800 Years 32 Days

Place of Samadhi Rameswaram Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvarur Chidambaram Mayavaram Perur Vaideeswarankoil

8

Sri Aavani Sundaranandar

9

Sri Konganar

Chitthirai

10 Sri Sattamuni

Aavani

Sri 11 Vaanmeegar / Valmiki

Purattasi

12 Sri Ramadevar Masi 13

Sri Vaikasi Nandeeswarar

14 Sri Edaikkadar Purattasi 15 Sri Machamuni Aadi 16 Sri Karuvoorar Chitthirai 17 Sri Bogar

Vaikasi

18 Sri Pambatti

Karthigai

800 Years 28 Madurai Days 800 Years 16 Utthiradam Titupathi Days 800 Years 14 Mrigasirisham Thiruvarangam Days

Revathi

Anusham

700 Years 32 Ettukudi Days

700 Years 06 Days 700 Years 03 Visagam Days 600 Years 18 Thiruvadirai Days 300 Years 62 Rohini Days 300 Years 42 Hastham Days 300 Years 18 Bharani Days 123 Years 14 Mrigasirisham Days Pooram

Azhagarmalai Kasi Tiruvannamalai Thiruparankundram Karuvur Pazhani Sankarankoil