29 Facts About Seshadri Swamigal

Seshadri Swamigal, known as the "Saint with a Golden Hand", was an Indian holy man who was born in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Seshadri Swamigal lived in Tiruvannaamalai, where he attained samadhi.

Maragatham conceived, and Seshadri Swamigal was born on 22 January 1870 as a gift from Parasakthi.

Seshadri Swamigal went into trances as a child, and would sit on his father's lap in a meditative chin mudra pose.

At age four, Seshadri Swamigal received the nickname "Golden Hand" after Seshadri Swamigal and his mother stopped at a shop selling bronze castings of the gods.

The young Seshadri Swamigal picked up a statue of Krishna and asked his mother to buy it so he could perform a Krishna puja.

Seshadri Swamigal worshiped the statue for many years, after which his younger brother Narasimha Josiar and his descendants continued to worship it.

Kamakoti Sastrigal took the family to live in Vazhur, where Seshadri Swamigal completed his education.

Seshadri Swamigal's mother died when he was 17, and his uncle Ramaswami Josiar and aunt Kalyani took charge of Swamigal and his younger brother, Narasimha Josiar.

Seshadri Swamigal met Balaji Seshadri Swamigal, a wandering holy man from North India, when he was 19 years old.

Seshadri Swamigal then began traveling throughout Tamil Nadu, ending up in Tiruvannamalai within a year.

Seshadri Swamigal remained there as an ascetic for 40 years.

Seshadri Swamigal did not visit his relatives, but meditated at a temple.

Seshadri Swamigal had renounced attachment to worldly life, forcing his family to allow him to live as a mendicant.

Seshadri Swamigal's whereabouts were not clearly known after two or three months, probably because he never spent much time in one place.

Seshadri Swamigal arrived in Tindivanam, near Tiruvannamalai; he had taken a vow of silence, and was known as "Mouna Swamigal".

Seshadri Swamigal asked that the room, used for performing homas, be locked from the outside and opened after four months.

Seshadri Swamigal resurfaced several months later in Thoosimamadur's Pandava Caves, south of Kanchipuram.

Seshadri Swamigal left Thoosimamadur for North Arcot before the brothers could meet and spent time in the Muthukumaraswamy and Brahmeswara Swamy temples.

Seshadri Swamigal left Tirupattur, crossed the Javvadhu Hills and reached Padavedu, where he remained for two days.

The village of Thurinjikuppam is next to Aathuvampaadi, which Seshadri Swamigal reportedly visited before reaching Tiruvannamalai.

When Vallimalai Seshadri Swamigal began spreading the beauty of the Thiruppugazh, an old man asked for alms, ate 1.5 kilograms of porridge and disappeared; his disciples looked for the person with such a ravenous appetite.

Seshadri Swamigal's body was buried instead of cremated, as is customary for a holy man.

For several months Seshadri Swamigal had repeatedly sought guidance from a devotee about constructing a new residence, symbolically contemplating departure from his mortal existence.

Seshadri Swamigal roamed around town the day after the ceremony despite his fever and weakened.

Seshadri Swamigal then sat on the elavarsupattamhouse and died in that house.

Seshadri Swamigal was an elder of Ramana Maharshi for ten years, and Maharshi was present throughout his final rites.

Seshadri Swamigal predicted the death of an apparently-healthy child, and gave successful dietary advice to a sick man at Arunachala.

The Sundaravadanam Perumal temple in Vazhur, Seshadri Swamigal's birthplace, was scheduled to be consecrated on 12 February 2012.