I§
In the early nineteenth century, there was spiritual renaissance in India and Sri Lanka. A reknowned French writer, Romaine Roland, in his book on Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, had noted appropriately that this spiritual rising was the seed for the political awakening in these countries.§
Normally, the happenings in India affect the activities in Sri Lanka; so, let us see what happened to the religious fronts in India in the 19th century. During that period of time, several great people such as Kesabchandra Sen, Thayanandar, Ramakrishna Paramahamsar were born in India. Kesabchandra Sen started a movement named Brahma Samaj following the steps of Rajaram Mohan Rai by changing some of the Hindu traditions to suit the western trends. Brahma Samaj followers did not adopt temple worship and deity worship which are closely related. §
Thayananthar started another movement by the name Arya Samaj. The main objective of this movement was to resist western influences by adopting Vedic traditions in the Hindu renaissance. Thayananthar wrote a book called, “Light of Dharma” to explain the principles of Arya Samaj. §
On the other end, Ramakrishna Paramahamsar followed Indian traditions, especially temple worship, and attained enlightenment. Paramahamsar’s life reminds us the life of Tamil Nadu Saiva and Vaishnava saints. Paramahamsar and his disciple, Vivekananda gave new life to Hindu religion.§
At this time in Sri Lanka, three Siddha great souls i.e. Aanaikutty Swami, Paramaguru Swami and Kadait Swami, and a religious Saint Arumuga Navalar, injected new life to Saiva religion in Sri Lanka.§
Among them, Aanaikutty Swamigal wandered most of the time in the streets of Colombo. He was called Aanaikutty Swamigal because he was chubby. He acquired many miraculous powers. Even the wealthy people who lived in Karuvakadu (Cinnamon Gardens) invited him to their houses and received his blessings. Some of them paraded him in the streets on bullock cart and collect offerings from the devotees and kept those with them. Yoga Swamigal during his first pilgrimage to Kathirgamam returned to Jaffna through Colombo and on the way met Aanaikutty swamigal and received his blessings. The educationist and the famous political leader, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, was one his supporters. It was due to his efforts that the Samadhi of Aanaikutty Swamigal was constructed in Colombo harbour. One of the followers of Aanaikutty Swamigal, Mother Moddaichi, was living in a hut in the jungles of Thiruketheeswaram. It appears due to her Holy presence, Thiruketheeswaram had developed into such a vibrant spiritual place now.§
Paramaguru Swamigal, the other Siddhar, was believed to have wandered in Jaffna, in a place called Ramanathapuram, Kadatparai and in Mathale. Kulanthaivel Swami, the contemporary of Yoga Swamigal, had blessings and received lessons from Paramaguru Swamigal. Later he lived for some time in the palmyra jungle, where the present Ramanathan College exists. At that time, the place was completely covered with palmyra tree jungle. §
Towards the end, Paramaguru Swamigal lived in Mathale region and attained Samadhi there. Paramaguru’s Samadhi was constructed under the supervision of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. He has written about Swamigal like this, “He is one of the noblest and intelligent souls whom I know. When he was young he worked as a coolie in one of the coffee estates in Sri Lanka. When he was a coolie he used to live in the jungle between Mathale and Thirukonamalai living on fruits and water available in jungle. He spent his time in meditation and living freely in nature. The travelers used to find him and forcefully bring him with them and took care of him. Then as time passed by, he became familiar to the human society. He was sweet natured. People from all walks of life- the rich, the poor, males, females and chidren- all were attracted by Swamigal and got peace and consolations. Though, he lived in jungle and did not have formal education, through experience he attained a certain level of understanding to engage in intellectual discussions with erudite scholars. Scholars humbly listened to him. He always remained in the enlightened state throughout his life, yet still did much social work untiringly. Since he had discovered how to unlock, at will, the spiritual power, he was flowing with tremendous inner power. §
The third Siddhar, Kadait Swamigal, has a special significance in the history of Jaffna’s Saiva religion. Since he established a lineage of spiritual Gurus in Jaffna, we can call him as Paramaguru.§
The mutts in Usan, Kantharmadam, and Erlalai in Jaffna – all were established by the followers of Kadait Swami. Yogaswamigal also belong to this lineage. Chellappa Swami, Guru of Yogaswami was an initiated disciple of Kadait Swami. Yogaswamigal had mentioned that when he was twelve years old, he had seen Kadait Swami. Yoga Swamigal used to become ecstatic whenever he talked about Kadait Swamigal. He used to say, “Kadait Swami had consumed Sivapogam (Siva consciousness). Where do we stand when compared with him? He had displayed many miracles just like Lord Krishna. He is beyond good and bad and whatever he did, no body complained.” Yogaswami used to tell as above to His close devotees to explain Kadait Swami’s ever blissful state.§
Nothing can be said with certainty about Kadait Swami’s origin. It is understood from those closely associated with Kadait Swami, that he came from India and spoke colloquial Tamil. His mother tongue may be Telugu or Kannada. It still remains as puzzle how Kadait Swami came to Sri Lanka. Since he always wandered mostly in the main bazaar region of Jaffna, he acquired the name Kadait Swami.§
He had a very charming appearance with perfect body features, as per Samudrika Sastra. He always wore dark cloth and carried an umbrella in his armpit.§
Kadait Swamigal had various type of followers. Among them, Vyramuthu Chettiyar and Kulanthaivel Swami from Vannarpannai, deserve special mention. The free food serving mutt in the Navalar Street is located on the piece of land donated by Vyramuthu Chettiyar. This is where the Samadhi Chinnaswami of Mandaitheevu, another disciple of Kadait Swami is located. Another follower, Nanniyar is also from Mandaitheevu. His house has a memorial for Swamigal. Kulanthaivel Swamigal held a high position in the Government. When he became a disciple of Swamigal, he quit his position and devoted his life fully for religious services.§
The other disciple of Kadait Swamigal was Chellappa Swamigal, the Guru of Yogaswami. Chellappa Swamigal must have met Kadait Swamigal when he was wandering in the streets of Nallur. Once Chellappa Swami gave a lemon fruit to Kadait Swami and he received it very affectionately. On another occasion, Kadait Swami got a rupee from a peanut vendor woman, wrapped it in a betel leaf, and gave it to Chellappa Swami. Then, Kadait Swami touched Chellappa Swami’s head with his umbrella and drove him away. This was the initiation to Chellappa Swami which resulted in him attaining wisdom and enlightenment.§
Kadait Swamigal had performed many miracles, like converting iron into gold, curing many devotees’ chronic diseases and solving their problems. The details are recorded in the book, “Kulanthaivel Swami and his spiritual lineage” written by Pandithar M. Kandiah and published by Keerimalai Kulanthaivel Swamigal’s Charitable Administrative Society. §
The Samadhi of Kadait Swamigal is located in Vannarpannai, Neraviyadi.§
Now, let us ponder about Saint Arumuga Navalar who revived the Saiva religion in accordance with the tradition of Vedas and Agamas. Navalar saved the Saiva religion from dominance and onslaught of Christian religion. He revived Saiva religion by establishing Saiva schools, publishing Saiva books, imbued new life to Purana story-telling tradition, and paved way for teaching Thirumurais.§
Though Yogaswami came from Sidda tradition, he followed and preserved the Vedic and Agama traditions. We can see the congruence of Siddha and the Veda-Agama traditions in Yogaswamigal.§