When Guruji did the Gurupooja of Thadikara Swami after kumbabhishekam, a person living near the temple was telling to Guruji and his close disciples that there is another Samadhi of a saint in the backside of EB office. When Guruji visited the Samadhi, the Samadhi was located in a slum called as Abraham Nagar. Guruji became completely dismayed too see A Samadhi of a saint in total neglect and used as a garbage dump yard by an entire colony. Much more than that, a few syringes were strewn near the temple which indicated that this divine temple was also misused for some time.
Locals used to say that they feared to go near the temple due to the presence of a huge snake in the precincts of the temple. Maybe the miscreants were also driven by the divine snake.
Huge Garbage of all kinds were deposited in and around the Samadhi, The Samadhi was like a dilapidated masouleum, with the spire (kalasa) half broken and the lime walls showing up. Another Samadhi was near covered in bushes which was just a platform about 3 feet tall and wide.
It happened during 2001 which was totally void of digital cameras and camera mobiles. When Guruji had come for the second visit to the temple, the almighty saint had given a push to renovate the temple.
A saint doing renovation to another saint is very rare in itself. But it was happening.
Guruji himself started to put His divine hands on the garbage, aware fully that whatever He was doing was pure divine seva only. The disciples also followed suit.
In morning everyone used to come in bikes to the area and Guruji along with his team of disciples used to clean the debris and the garbage dumped for many years.
The greatest miracle was that in spite of such garbage around the saint’s temple, the entire atmosphere was absolutely serene without a trace of bad odour.
The cleaning started. Guruji asked to remove the weeds surrounding the disciple’s Samadhi and after we removed, there was a small hole in the Samadhi structure. From it, divine fragrance of kumkum and turmeric were piercing our nostrils.
It just indicated that the samadhis of Kulandaivel Swamigal and His disciple were unscathed by the surroundings.
During the daily cleaning, lot of creatures and insects also came from within the garbage but seldom did it deter anyone from doing it. Guruji led the team and He himself had set a divine example on how to work. Everyone used to work from the morning, the sun was so hot that that would tire all of them. But, the divine energy from Guruji along with the saint’s divine energy nourished everyone so much that none felt the tiredness. Round after another, Guruji and His team were continuously involved in the seva of the swamiji. The dirt around the saint was just like divine things, and in the presence of our beloved Guruji, everyone’s eyes seemed to have lost the power of reasoning between dirt and cleanness. Everything looked clean to them. In the intermediary time, when everyone used to sit to drink tea, divine fragrance used to permeate the space of the saint.
Guruji had spoken with the owner family of the temple and they had agreed for renovation.
Guruji at this time had announced that the emerging of the temple will start. A sthapathi by name Ganesan who actually did thiruppani for the Jeeva Samadhi of Velachery Chidambaram Swamigal was chosen by Swamiji himself to do the thiruppani, who agreed to reconstruct the gopuram on top of the existing structure. There was no money at that time with anyone, but slowly slowly through some or the other means money used to flow. Guruji used to arrange the funds somehow all by Himself with little help offered from the disciples as well. But seldom was money collected from anyone.
When the sthapathi came, few of the disciples who were jobless at that time, took this as their only job as they used to assemble at 9 am in the morning and leave only at 7 pm when the temple work ended.
Slowly, the temple started emerging. By this time, swamiji’s Gurupooja was about to come. The date of Samadhi was engraved in a stone outside the temple of swami. It was to be held on 22nd of December 2001. During this time, Gurupooja happened in the middle of heavy rain. Guruji had brought a shivalingam and Nandi which was actually kept by Kulandaivel swamigal to be installed for His Guru, Chidambaram Swami, but actually that came to be installed on top of His Samadhi itself.
We had taken a current line from a neighbouring home, who was kind enough to give electricity for a tube light within Swamiji’s premises.
During this period, Swamiji had revealed His signature words in tamil to Guruji.
“உன் சுயவெளியைக் காண்”
It means to witness the pure inner space within oneself.
The work continued in full vigour. In the middle, lot of obstacles came. Few people who were drunkards created trouble during renovation. But despite all the shortcomings the combined divinity of Guruji and Swamiji stood like beacon and ensured that the temple emerged by and by.
Soon, Swamiji’s Gopuram emerged with statue of Swami and Kumbabhishekam of Kulandaivel Swamigal was scheduled on May 10, 2002 on Chitra Paurnami.
The Kumbabhishekam also happened in full grandeur. Guruji performed the consecration when the saint’s presence emerged in full greatness. At this time a local woman exclaimed.
குப்பைமேடு கோபுரமாவதை கேள்வி தான் பட்டிருக்கிறோம். இப்போது தான் பார்க்கிறோம்
The entire town had now become very bright and lot of people from the slums volunteered for seva. At this peak time, annadhaanam used to happen during every paurnami when the entire set of people used to come and relish the divine prasadam of the saint.
Whenever Guruji came to the temple, there was a deep silence and Swamiji used to come out in astral form almost every time and bless everyone.
The temple owner’s family had told that swami’s photo was not there and only one descendent in the family was having. After deep search by the grace of the saint, a photo was there in the home of a descendent but it was broken. Nevertheless, the photo was taken and scanned, by Guruji’s team so that it was not lost in the sands of time.
All was going well in the temple but destiny changed its turn. Some greedy land grabbers with the support of few locals and one of the family members of the owner had arranged to sell the land of the swami without anyone’s knowledge.
It started when the school owner told that the land in which the Nandi was installed belonged to him. Guruji told to him, that if you want you remove the Nandi and place it in the front knowing very well that the land belonged to Swami and no one was authorized to buy /sell the Samadhi land. But within a week’s time, the Nandi was brought forward by the school owner. At this time Guruji only mentioned “It is His wish only” and slowly stopped to visit the temple. At that time actually Guruji intended to install a stone statue of the saint in the temple.
The next few years also seemed that way only.
Guruji had applied for an electricity connection also for the saint’s temple but that was also treacherously removed by the person of the owner’s family. He had silently enacted the deal and entire Swami’s Samadhi land was sold to a new owner who was constructing a school.
Now, they had razed the temple completely silently and after a few days. But, once this happened within a span of 2 months, the buyer and seller had to pay for the karma.
Both of them died within 2 months as a result of their karmas and also few of them who helped them to abduct the land of Swamiji.
As a result, everyone started to fear the power of the saint.
But recently Guruji mentioned about Kulandaivel swamigal in Moondravathu Kan TV programme in Vendhar TV ( a local tamil channel) . After that a lot of awareness had risen in the locality and lot of locals started to worship the saint again. Now, the temple is slowly re-emerging. Guruji had installed a statue of the saint which was originally meant to be installed there. Swamiji’s leela only ensures that the temple is going to re-emerge.
When the existence and Kulandaivel swamigal nods, the temple will fully re-emerge.
