8. On the Way to Kalady

The Mahaswamiji reached Bangalore in May 1907. Sri V.P. Madhava Rao had left Travancore and was now Dewan of Mysore. At the request of the Dewan, the Mahaswamiji stayed at his residence, Patana Bhavana, at Bangalore. This city is also known as Kalyanapuri, a name justified by its salubrious climate, being situated 3000 feet above the sea-level and its prosperous condition. Madhava Rao, A. Ramachandra Iyer and other influential gentlemen of the place requested that a shrine for installing the image of the great master Sri Shankaracharya and a Math, where the Mahaswamiji could stay for a month or two every year and preach vaidika-Dharma to the people, should be built at Bangalore.

A. Ramachandra Iyer had on an earlier occasion, made a similar suggestion and had offered to place for this purpose, his own mansion at the disposal of the Mahaswamiji. He now backed up the request of the Dewan and offered a sum of Rupees twenty thousand as his contribution. The Mahaswamiji agreed to the pressing request. The Dewan, with his characteristic promptitude, looked out for a suitable site. Between Chamarajapura and Basavangudi lay an extensive plot, overgrown with trees and shrubs and harbouring venomous reptiles. The whole plot was acquired with the permission of the Maharaja, speedily cleared of all noxious growths, was laid into house-sites with a spacious plot in the centre for the proposed shrine and Math campus. The house-sites fetched good prices; a source of nuisance to belated wayfarers was rendered fit for a growing colony and a fair shrine arose in the centre, in an incredibly short time. The Dewan placed a spacious plot adjoining the shrine at the disposal of the Mahaswamiji for the Peetham and requested the Mahaswamiji to install the image of Sri Shankaracharya in the shrine.

The Mahaswamiji installed the marble image which had been intended for Kalady in the new temple according to Vedic rites on Friday the twelfth of the bright half of Vaishakha of Plavanga; he performed the day’s worship of Sri Chandramoulishwara at the temple and distributed tirtha and Prasada to his disciples. As the Mahaswamiji had numerous disciples in Bangalore and as he had to visit them for Pada-Puja and Bhiksha in accordance with their requests, he was obliged to remain in Bangalore for a considerable length of time. From Bangalore, the Mahaswamiji travelled through Bidadi, Clorepal and Chennapatna, and reached Mysore on Sunday, the fifth of the bright half of Jyeshta of the year Plavanga.

There he was received by the Maharaja of Mysore with exceptional honours and later took up his residence in the Sanskrit College building. On Friday, the tenth of the dark half of Jyeshta, he visited the palace again at the request of the Maharaja, performed the worship of Chandramouleeshwara and other deities in the palace, accepted the Pada-Puja performed by the Maharaja in accordance with the established custom and blessed the Maharaja and other members of the Royal family. Although he had intended to return to his lodgings after these ceremonies were over, he remained the whole day in the palace at the request of Maharaja and returned to his camp late at night, after performing the evening worship. As the time for Chaturmasya-Sankalpa was drawing near and as the journey he had undertaken was a prolonged and arduous one, he was able to remain in Mysore only for thirteen days.

On a certain day at about 5 O’ clock in the evening, some Mohammedan gentlemen of respectability and learning came to see him. The Mahaswamiji inquired of their welfare and began to explain the truths of various religions and the reasons for their differences. The enthusiasm of the Mahaswamiji grew as he saw the delight with which they followed his explanations given in a simple and reasonable manner.

After blessing the Maharaja and his other disciples, the Mahaswamiji left Mysore for Nanjangud. He spent three days in Nanjangud worshipping Srikantheswara and then descending the ghats through Chamarajanagar, he reached Satyamangalam in the Coimbatore district of Madras presidency.

He performed Vyasa-Puja and Chaturmasya-Sankalpa as well as the Navaratri worship in Gopichettipalayam, which is an Agrahara situated about fifteen miles from Satyamangalam. Travelling via Bhavani, Erode and Karur and spending a day or two at the request of his disciples and blessing them, he entered Jambukeswara (Thiruvanaikoil) near Trichirapalli.

While the Mahaswamiji was in Gopichettipalayam for his Chaturmasya-Sankalpa, one of his disciples named Kanadukattan Chidambaram Chettiar, who belonged to the class of Nattu-kottai Chettiars, had come there to visit him. He represented to the Mahaswamiji that he had renovated the temple of Sri Jambukeswara and Akhilandeshwari and requested the Mahaswamiji to be so gracious as to be present in Jambukeswara at the time of the consecration of the temple and the Kumbhabhishekha ceremony. The Mahaswamiji therefore visited Jambukeswara and remained there till the Kumbhabhishekam ceremony was over, had the Darshan of Sri Jambukeswara and Sri Akhilandeswari and prayed at the shrines for the welfare of the world. He then blessed his disciple Chidambara Chettiar. Seeing how skillfully the temple had been renovated, the Mahaswamiji asked Chidambaram Chettiar to supervise and complete the renovation which the Mahaswamiji had inaugurated at the temple of Sharadamba at Sringeri, which task the Chettiar gladly accepted.

The Mahaswamiji then resumed his journey and arrived at Srirangam. He remained there only for one day, taking up his residence in the house of his beloved disciple T.K. Balasubramanyam. That night, after the performance of the evening worship, the Mahaswamiji went on foot to the temple of Sri Ranganatha and offered his prayers and prostrations to the deity in the quiet of the night, after the usual closing time of the temple, in great happiness and returned to his lodgings.

On the next morning, he left for Tiruchirapalli, where he accepted Pada-Puja and Bhiksha from his beloved disciple Ganapati Iyer and took up his residence for the night in the house of Krishna Iyer. He then stopped at Pudukkottai, the capital of the Thondaimans (Chieftains ruling certain parts of Southern India), which as the Mahaswamiji declared, had been sanctified by the footprints of Saint Sadashiva Brahmendra, who was the Mahaswamiji's ideal of a perfected yogi. Then he travelled to Kovilur. The head of the Math at Kovilur by name Veerappa Desikar, who had prayed his respects to the Mahaswamiji on the occasion of his previous visit to the place in 1893-94, had now rebuilt a temple of Shiva and requested the Mahaswamiji to visit Kovilur for the consecration of the temple and the Kumbhabhishekam ceremony; the Mahaswamiji accepted the invitation and proceeded to Kovilur.

After the Kumbhabhishekha ceremony, the Jagadguru remained in Kovilur for five days, celebrated Shankara-Jayanti with great pomp, accepted the hospitalities of the Kovilur Swami and then travelled on to places like Karaikudi, Kanadukaathan, Pullattur, Kottaiyur and Devakottai where the well known Nattu-kottai Chettiars reside. The Mahaswamiji thus gave them the happiness of beholding the worship of the deities and bestowed on them his choicest blessings.

As the time for Chaturmasya-Sankalpa of the year Kilaka was drawing near, the Mahaswamiji remained for two months in Kunnakudi and performed his Vyasapuja in that place. Subsequently, He proceeded to Madurai, which is known as the Halasya-kshetra. He was accommodated in accordance with the established custom in the Kalyana Mantapa, a part of the famous Meenakshi Sundareswara temple and remained there for twenty five days. He then travelled on to Tribhuvana, Manamadurai and Paramakudi and reached Ramanathapuram where he stayed for two days and blessed the Setupati Muthulinga Rajarajeswara, the Zamindar of that place who was the son and successor of the Raja who had assigned five of his villages to the Sringeri Sharada Peetham.

Then, he crossed Pamban in a boat and reached Rameshwaram on Wednesday, the eleventh of the bright half of Kartika of Kilaka S.S. 1831 (1908 C.E). He remained for three days in Dhanushkoti, bathed at the bridge of Rama and returned to Rameshwaram. There, he worshipped Ramanatha Swami with silver coins and offered valuable clothes as gifts and remained for two weeks accepting the hospitality of his disciples in that locality and showering his blessings on them.

He then left Rameshwaram and entered the district of Tirunelveli, on the Banks of the River Tamraparni. In this district, there are numerous Agraharas. The people there are devoted followers of the Sringeri Math. Having come to learn that the Mahaswamiji was journeying to Kalady to consecrate the birth place of Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, they considered it their duty to show their hospitality to the Mahaswamiji on such an exceptional occasion and became participators in the good work in which the Mahaswamiji was engaged. With great enthusiasm, they invited the Mahaswamiji to visit village after village in their district, extended their hospitality to him and offered princely donations. The Mahaswamiji, appreciating the zeal and devotion of his disciples, ordered that all the money collected there should be set apart for the erection of the buildings and Kumbhabhishekha at Kalady; a sum of two lakhs of rupees collected in that locality was deposited with some prominent disciples of the Math, who were residing in that place, as a reserve from which funds might be drawn as and when necessity arose.

A year had passed by and by this time, the next Chaturmasya was approaching. It being an intercalary year, three instead of the usual two months stay at one place for the Chaturmasya was necessary. Owing to constant travelling and living in the midst of crowds, the Mahaswamiji required solitude. The Mahaswamiji chose Papanasam for Chaturmasya. Nearby is the famous waterfall of the Tamraparni, known as Kalyanatirtha. The scenery here is grand and bewitching; here the Tamraparni flows in a pellucid stream of molten gold, skirted on either side by gigantic trees. By the side of the stream, is a holy temple of Shiva. The spot is enchantingly lovely and its solitude and loveliness were congenial to the Mahaswamiji's temperament and meditative habits.

Thereafter, he proceeded to the hills of Banatirtha at the invitation of the Tirthapati Zamindar of Singampatti. He spent three days at Banatirtha, the source of Tamraparni, on the hills of the Western Ghats.

The Mahaswamiji then proceeded to Tirunelveli at the request of its citizens to celebrate the Navarathri festival in that place. He took up his residence in the temple of Salivateswara and his disciples facilitated the conduct of the celebrations of Navarathri in a grand style and became the recipients of the Mahaswamiji’s bountiful blessings.

When the Maharaja of Travancore, His Highness Padmanabha-Dasa Sri Moolam Tirunal Bala Rama Varma came to know that the Mahaswamiji was coming into his territories for the sake of fulfilling a great purpose, he issued orders to his officers to afford to him all conveniences from the moment the Mahaswamiji entered his territories and to receive him with highest honours when he arrived there. The Maharaja also requested the Mahaswamiji to visit his capital city on a day suited to the star on which the Maharaja was born, in the month of Margashirsha of the year Soumya S.S. 1832 (1909 CE). The Mahaswamiji acquiesced to the request of the Maharaja for entering Trivanantapuram on that day though it was not going to be convenient to him due to shortage of time. Tovalakkote was the first place of his halt in the territory of Travancore. When the Mahaswamiji arrived there, he was received by the Dewan Peshkar of Padmanabhapuram and was accommodated in a palatial building.

The Mahaswamiji went from there to Kanyakumari and remained there for three days, beheld Goddess Kanyakumari and travelling further, he reached Trivandrum at five O’ clock on the morning of the appointed day and encamped at a place on the banks of the river at a distance of about two miles from the town. Before the Mahaswamiji could finish his religious observances of the morning, the Dewan and the other high officers of the State and the principal citizens had assembled and were in readiness with all royal insignia, elephants, poornakumbham, fruits and flowers to receive the Mahaswamiji. After finishing his religious duties, the Mahaswamiji donned his crown of gems and other Math regalia and came forward to enter his golden palanquin. Seeing that it was impossible for him to receive individually the huge concourse of people who had been waiting to have a glimpse of his Darshan, the Mahaswamiji informed the Dewan Rajagopalachari that the people could pay their respects mentally after he entered his palanquin and sat in it.

The officers of the state offered suitable explanations to the people and brought the crowd under control and gave everyone an opportunity of beholding the Mahaswamiji.

While the Mahaswamiji’s procession was proceeding along the appointed streets, both the sides of the streets were lined with ladies waving Arati. Before the Mahaswamiji arrived at the entrance of the fort, the Maharaja, decorated in gorgeous apparel, was waiting with a small select retinue. As soon as the palanquin came near the outer gateway, the Maharaja came out of the fort, offered his prostrations and with folded hands made enquiries regarding the welfare of the Mahaswamiji. The Mahaswamiji was delighted at the love and devotion shown by the Maharaja and after inquiries of mutual welfare, gave phala and Mantrakshata to the Maharaja and blessed him. The Maharaja then took leave of the Mahaswamiji who then entered the fort and passed in procession through the four principal streets and after the Dhuli-Pada-Puja and other services had been offered in the Yuvaraja’s palace which had been fitted up for his reception, accorded his permission to the officers and citizens who had accompanied him to return to their homes. Thereafter, the Mahaswamiji performed his midday religious ceremonies.

The Mahaswamiji remained in Trivandrum for eight days. The arrangements made by the Maharaja for the convenience of the Mahaswamiji were excellent. On a certain day, the Maharaja came to the Mahaswamiji’s place of residence, received Mantropadesha from him and also made a gift of ten thousand rupees as offering to the Mahaswamiji. When the Maharaja represented to the Mahaswamiji that he was growing old and regretted that in his state there was no one on whom he could confer the office of Yuvaraja, a heir apparent, the Mahaswamiji blessed the Maharaja saying that he would soon find a heir apparent and that the Maharaja would confer the office on the selected person with his own hands. That afternoon, the Maharaja was pleased to say that he fully entertained the belief that the Mahaswamiji was no other than Sri Padmanabha, the titular deity of the Royal family, and that as he possessed the blessings of such a Mahaswamiji, no evil could happen to him.

On the next day, the Maharaja sent the Maharani to visit the Mahaswamiji and receive his blessings. Her Highness too had the happiness of beholding the Mahaswamiji and became the recipient of his invaluable blessings. The Maharani received Upadesha from him and had his portrait painted by one of the artists in the state. The portrait is now preserved in the Shankara Math at Bangalore in commemoration of the Mahaswamiji. When the Mahaswamiji was in Trivandrum, a large number of his disciples in that place tried to invite the Mahaswamiji to their houses to serve him with Pada-Puja and other forms of worship and to earn his blessings; but as the Maharaja deemed that, it would cause inconvenience to the Mahaswamiji, he directed that devotees could come to the Math and worship the Mahaswamiji and receive his blessings. The Maharaja submitted to the Mahaswamiji that he considered it his good fortune that the Mahaswamiji had undertaken the great task of consecrating the temples at Kalady during his lifetime, as he was glad that he could also associate himself with it. He also expressed his readiness to provide all facilities for the purpose and made a gift to the Mahaswamiji of a further sum of ten thousand rupees and an elephant named Padmanabha. The Mahaswamiji showered his blessings on the Maharaja, his followers as well as on the inhabitants of the place and proceeded towards Kalady. ⮜⮜⮜⮞⮞⮞