Guest guest Posted November 8, 2005 Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 Posting in Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru Click below and join the group Shree Pambatti SiddharA most popular and well known of the siddhars is "Pambatti Siddhar"(the snake siddha) who may be taken to be a true representation ofhis tribe. He takes the snake for a symbol to represent the humanSoul and uses the expression : "AADU PAMBE" (De thou, Dance Snake) asa refrain at the end of each stanza of his poem. The poem of thissiddhar is fewer than six hundred lines and deals with philosophicand spiritual matters in the authentic siddhar pattern with greatpassion. He sings the praise of Lord Siva as the Supreme Power of the Universe. About Siddhar's (Siddha's) Who is a siddha ? A siddha is one who has attained siddhi, i.e. "power, prowess, strength, ability", then a special kind of psychic and supernatural, miraculous, occult power. There are eight kinds of super natural powers called as "Ashtama Siddhis": Anima (shrinking) -- Power of becoming the size of an atom and entering the smallest beings. Mahima (illimitability) -- Power of becoming mighty and co-extensive with the universe. The power of increasing one's size without limit. Lagima (lightness) -- Capacity to be quite light though big in size. Garima (weight) -- Capacity to weigh heavy, though seemingly small size. 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. 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. Isithavam (supremacy) -- Have the creative power of God and control over the Sun, the moon and the elements and Vasithavam (dominion over the elements) -- Power of control over King and Gods. The power of changing the course of nature and assuming any form. According to the book "Valmiki Suthira Gyanam" authored by Valmeeki Siddha,the mind and attaining perfection one becomes a siddha (Tamil Chittan); He is indeed fit to be called SIVA". A classical definition of siddhas is given by Siddhar Thirumoolar: "Those who live in yoga and see the divine light and power through yoga are the siddhars (Tamil Chittar)". According to Kamil Zvelebil, there are some features which are typical for all or almost all siddhars as a body of thinkers. First, in sharp opposition to the bhakti tradition, they refuse to allow themselves be carried away by idol worship in particular temples. Second, in contrast to bhakti which emphasizes passionate devotion to God, the siddhar emphasize knowledge, yoga practice, and character, moral behavior, right conduct. Anger, lust and egoism are the worst sins. Third, almost all siddhar's raise a protest against caste and casteism. The whole atmosphere of siddha thinking is empirical and experimental. Their writings are not in the nature of clear cut formalized statements of any well defined doctrine. Hence, it is difficult to extricate a philosophical system out of their writings, at least at the present state of our knowledge of their works. However, it is possible to point out a few essential features, and one day, when their writings are better known, it should be possible to state their philosophy more explicitly. Nandi Devar Agastyar Thirumoolar Boganathar Konkanavar Macchamuni Goraknath Sattamuni Sundaranandar Rama Devar Kudambai Karuvoorar Idai Kadar Kamalamuni Valmiki Patanjali Dhanvanthri Paambatti Sri Pa The 18 Siddhars 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 Pathanjali Siddhar 2. Sri Agasthiar 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. Only a true Siddha Yogi shall do any classification with full confidence. 1. Sivavakkiyar 2. Pattinattar 3. (List to be expanded later) Table of 18 Siddhars Sl. No Name of the Siddhar Tamil month of Birth Tamil Birth Star Duration of Life Place of Samadhi 1 Sri Pathanjali Panguni Moolam 5 Yugas 7 Days Rameswaram 2 Sri Agasthiar Markazhi Aayilyam 4 Yugas 48 Days Thiruvananthapuram 3 Sri Kamalamuni Vaikasi Poosam 4000 Years 48 Days Thiruvarur 4 Sri Thirumoolar Purattathi Avittam 3000 Years 13 Days Chidambaram 5 Sri Kuthambai Aadi Visagam 1800 Years 16 Days Mayavaram 6 Sri Korakkar Karthigai Aayilyam 880 Years 11 Days Perur 7 Sri Thanvandri Iyppasi Punarpoosam 800 Years 32 Days Vaideeswarankoil 8 Sri Sundaranandar Aavani Revathi 800 Years 28 Days Madurai 9 Sri Konganar Chitthirai Utthiradam 800 Years 16 Days Titupathi 10 Sri Sattamuni Aavani Mrigasirisham 800 Years 14 Days Thiruvarangam 11 Sri Vaanmeegar / Valmiki Purattasi Anusham 700 Years 32 Days Ettukudi 12 Sri Ramadevar Masi Pooram 700 Years 06 Days Azhagarmalai 13 Sri Nandeeswarar Vaikasi Visagam 700 Years 03 Days Kasi 14 Sri Edaikkadar Purattasi Thiruvadirai 600 Years 18 Days Tiruvannamalai 15 Sri Machamuni Aadi Rohini 300 Years 62 Days Thiruparankundram 16 Sri Karuvoorar Chitthirai Hastham 300 Years 42 Days Karuvur 17 Sri Bogar Vaikasi Bharani 300 Years 18 Days Pazhani 18 Sri Pambatti Karthigai Mrigasirisham 123 Years 14 Days Sankarankoil There is a poem on his Guru, Who is credited with super naturalpowers. He then boasts of the similar powers of his tribe in a moodof fantastic self-adulation, where his imagination runs riot. "We canmake men women", he says and adds, "We can destroy" this greatuniverse. He asserts that they have power equal to that of God andcan control the elements. He is there, merely expatiating on theAshtama SiddhisHe then bursts out that they, like Prahima can create new worlds,make him his servants and live in a status of equality with Lord Sivaand make Him play with them. Then there is usual tired against thislife and its short lived sensual pleasure. The value of reminciationand sacation is also dealt with. He ridicules ideal worship and theVedas. Agomas and other Scriptures. The cast differences aredenounced by him. He has also several stanzas on mystic knowledge ofYoga.As a poet, he is not contemptible (deserving to be treated withcontempt). He has a facility of expression and an imaginative flavourin thought. He holds that those who have no feeling of love in theirhearts can never attain salvation. His God vision is pictured in afine stanza. This poet uses entirely the common speech of the peopleand has produced powerful effect.Each one of the stanzas of his work ends in the world "Aadu Pambe".Probably that may be the cause of his name. He seems to belong toMaruthamalai in Kongunadu. It is given in the work above that he gotinstructions from Sattamuni. As per the lines "Pathir-ar-SankarankoilPambatti" found in the old stanza, which is given as source so far,his place of Samadhi has to be taken as Sankarankoil is TirunelveliDistrict of Tamil Nadu (India).The nobility and sublimity of the Cobra, which symbolicallyrepresents the power of Kundalini in human beings, is hailed withmystical flavor in more than a hundred verses by Sri Pambattisiddhar, each ending with the refrain 'Dance Thou Cobra!'.He is the last among the noted 18 siddhars. He belongs to the Kozhayifamily. The Himalayas are their ancestral land. Essentially theKozhayi's were cowherds and sheep herds and dependent on the productsof cows and sheep. Slowly they moved out of their place and in duecourse came to South India . Some say that Sri Pambatti Siddhar wasborn at Thirukkokarnam, near Pudukkottai and some others in thePandya Kingdom . Mrigasirisham was his birth star in the Tamil monthof Karthigai (November-December). He was considered a manifestationof Lord Siva. On being given spiritual initiation by his GuruSattamuni, as the disciple changed the five elements into a five-headed cobra, he came to be known as "Pambatti siddhar". There are afew who say that he got this name because he lent symbolically in hisverses the image of a cobra to the Kundalini power.Sri Pambatti siddhar attained the eight supernatural powerscalled 'Ashtamasiddhi' after performing penance for a very long timein a cave on Marudamalai, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Also helived in places like Mahalingamalai in Vathiraayiruppu, Kollimalai,Madurai , Puliyur and Bhavani.Sri Sivaprabhakara Siddhayogi Paramahamsa was the worthy disciple ofthis great siddhar. The former was born in a Namboodiri family ofKaladi, Kerala. As the Guru and his follower remained inseparable,they did atonement for 45 years on the Himalayas and came toSankarankoil. Sri Pambatti Siddhar established the statue of GoddessGomathi Amman there. Later, at the south-west corner, about a furlongbehind the temple, amidst punnai trees (now door number 15,Puliyankudi Road). Sri Pambatti Siddhar got established in the stateof Nirvikalpa Samadhi (also known as Jeeva Samadhi) at the sacredhands of his disciple.Some books mention that Sri Pambatti siddhar attained samadhi atVirudhachalam and some at Thirukkadaiyur. However, their claims haveno established proof. It may be assumed that Sri Pambatti siddharwould have lived in those places and in order to reveal that thedisciple could himself assume the frame of his master, might have gotestablished in samadhi in these two places in the guise of SriPambatti Siddhar. This might have been possible for him because SriPrabhakarar got into the bodies of 15 persons at different times bythe unique process called 'Metempsychosis' (Transmigration) andproved himself to be the noble student of his aspired preceptor.It can be authentically proved that Sri Pambatti siddhar got samadhionly at Sankarankoil. Some such proofs are cited below:1) In his book entitled "History of Siddha Medicine" written inEnglish by Mr. N. Kannuppillai and published by the Government ofTamil Nadu in 1979, under the chapter "Eighteen Siddhars", the authorhas written on pages 364-366 about Pambatti siddhar and clearlymentioned that he attained samadhi at Sankarankoil.2) In the hoary palm leaves of Pulithevar entitled " NerkattumSeval " in the form of a song there are references to the placeswhere the 18 siddhar's had attained samadhi and in it is mentionedthat Sri Pambatti siddhar's place of samadhi is at Sankarankoil.3) Dr. Yogi S. A. A. Ramiah in his book " A Collection of the Versesof the Eighteen Siddhars for Daily Recitatio n" (in Tamil) too makesa similar mention when he records that Sri. Pambatti siddhar in orderto attain Svarupa samadhi in Sankarankoil kindled his cobra power ofKundalini.4) The Gayatri Mantra of Sri Pambatti siddhar is :"Om Sankaranaalaya Pathivaazh SittharaayaVechitra Rupaaya Pambatti Sittharaaya Namaha" .This also makes an identical proclamation.Thus, beyond doubt, it is established that Sri Pambatti Siddhar'sJeeva Samadhi is only at Sankarankoil and not anywhere else.The sole disciple of Sri Pambatti Siddhar was Brahmananda SriSivaprabhakara Siddhayogi Paramahamsar and that of the latter isBrahmasri Siddharaja Swamiji, who has, at the behest of his Guru, hadundertaken the great task of constructing a sacred samadhi Temple forhis Guru's Guru. Brahmasri Siddharaja Swamiji had taken up someother truly useful missions to the society. His plan was toconstruct separate buildings for siddha research centre and for massfeeding, to be housed within the proposed building complex of thesiddhar samadhi.Just in front of the siddhar samadhi lies a big water tankcalled "Govinda Peri", meant for the annual float festival of thetemple. The Eminence of Sri Pambatti Siddhar's SamadhiSome special features of Sri Pambati Siddhar's Samadhi are presentedhere:1) It is a historically recorded evidence that in order to curePulithevar, a daring patriot, of his excruciating stomach pain thethen pontiff of Thiruvaduthurai used the ant-hill soil on the Samadhiof Sri Pambatti Siddhar. It readily reveals the curative efficacy ofthe Samadhi soil. Daily devotes who throng the shrine take the soilto their homes as 'Prasadam'. The Tulsi tank water in the templecures many diseases and protects devotees from many diseases.2) There is a grill-structure with 18 lamps, just behind theSiddhar's shrine. The Pranava Mantra "OM" is at its centre. There isa "Trident" at the top of the lamps to refer to the Three Lords, bornout of the Pranava Mantra. Each lamp encompassing "OM" stands for aSiddhar.The prayers of those devotees who keep a small cloth packetcontaining Sesame seeds in each of these cup like lamps, fill withgingelly oil, light them and pray sincerely are heard and fulfilledat once. This is what devotees who gather at the shrine in multitudesoften assert. Brahmasri Siddharaja Swamiji himself once directed someof his devotees to observe this rite in order to rid them of theadverse effects of Mars in the 7th house of their horoscope (Commonlyreferred as "Sevvai Dhosha" in Tamil Astronomy) or the hostileinfluence of Raghu, Kethu and Saturn. Those who follow thesedirections fervently get the following favours:Those who suffer fromSevvai Dhosha get a good life partner,Saturn's retardation get peace of mind,Issueless beget children,unemployed get suitable jobs, etc.3) There is a big lamp which is kept burning all the 24 hours of aday at the Sanctum Sanctorium of Sri Pambatti Siddhar. It consumesone litre of gingelly oil per day. Sri Pambatti Siddhar protects theinterests of those who keep it burning and workship him earnestly.Daily devotees bring garlands, flowers, camphor, incense sticks,coconuts, bananas and other fruits for the daily adoration of theParabrahamam Statue established on the Samadhi of Sri PambattiSiddhar. No doubt they get His blessings in full measure.4) This is an exquisitely carved four-sided idol. At the top it is a14-headed cobra spreading its hoods, with figures of Lord Vishnu onthe east, Lord Siva and splendid Goddess Gomathi on the south, LordMuruga on the west and Lord Ganesh on the north. This signifies thatthe 14-headed Cobra, Sri Pambatti Siddhar, contains the Three Lordsin Himself. This also implies that HE is Parabrahman Himself.5) This Siddhar temple is popularly known by the epithet 'Samadhi ofthe Munificent Philanthropist' for the obvious reason that largescale mass feeding was frequently conducted here by Sri SiddharajaSwamiji. Currently the mass feedings are organized by the S.P.S.S.P.trust. True to the epithet, on the days of Adi Thapas in the month ofJuly-August, a very extensive mass feeding is performed every year.So far 16 such feedings have been accomplished and over 20,000 peopleare fed on each occasion.Further, all devotes who visit the shrine are fed daily and hencewithout an iota of exaggeration it is called 'Annadana Samadhi'.Everyone is invited to go in large numbers to this famous shrine ofSri Pambatti Siddhar at Sankarankoil, get His blessings and have aforetaste of the celestial bliss. 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