INTRODUCTION
The details about the birth date and birth place of Nadai Siddhar, also known as Sri Balananda Swamigal, are not known by his devotees. His birth name is Balakrishnan, and it was told by him during the time of his Jeeva Samidhi. During his period, he remained silent and he used to talk only occasionally with his devotees. He was a staunch devotee of Lord Muruga.
Since the great Siddhar used to walk throughout the day in the streets, his devotees began to fondly call him as “NADAI SIDDHAR”, which means “WALKING SAINT”. He has gone many times to Palani through foot walk, in order to get the darshan of Lord Murugan. He didn’t have any bad habits in his life time, and he used to continuously chant the various divine names of Lord Murugan. Whatever food offered by his devotees he used to eat it, without any hesitation. Sometimes he used
to share his food with ants and crows, and would thank the almighty before eating the food. It is also believed, that sometimes, the divine bird Garuda also used to come from the skies and would eat the food offered by him. He wore only Kaavi coloured dress, and would apply sacred ash on his forehead and in his hands. Nadai Siddhar had performed many miracles in the life of his devotees, like relieving them from their sins and diseases, and had shown the spiritual path to them.
He insisted the people to eat only strict vegetarian food, and to ignore non vegetarian food in their diet. He also removed the black magic and enmity problems of his devotees and made them to peacefully live in their lives. He has contained only a few belongings with him, like a shoulder bag containing some vessels and some pictures of deities. Devotees from other religions also would worship him, in order to get solutions for their problems. He has also corrected the nature of the bad natured people like thieves, drug addicts and non-believers of god, by offering Palani Panchamirtham to them. He has attained Jeevasamadhi in Tamil Nadu, and it is believed that he had merged with his beloved god Muruga.
“OM”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR
