1978 - The Avatar’s biological family
The Family of His Divine Holiness
The devout and blessed family of His Divine Holiness lived for generations in the town of Thiruvannamalai, South India. The paternal forefathers of His Divine Holiness are among the most ancient families to reside in Thiruvannamalai, with records dating back more than 300 years, serving Arunachaleshwara as key administrators and rulers of the whole land.1 Until the entire treasury and most sacred heritage was robbed from them by demonic invading forces, this family served Arunachaleshwara with the most sincere devotion. As the final abatement to the destruction of this great heritage and as a reward for their continuous demonstration of piousness and simplicity in serving Arunachaleshwara, Arunachala Himself decided to take birth in this family.
Paternal Line
Three generations prior to the advent of The Avatar, Sri Kumaraswamy Chettiar, who would be the great grandfather of His Divine Holiness, lived a profoundly devoted lifestyle, worshipping the shiva-linga, as per the instructions of Shiva Himself. One day, he was overwhelmed by an intense vairagya, the most earnest intention to renounce all worldly desires and attain liberation. He decided to forego all of his wealth. He took a bath in the temple water tank, shed all of his karmas, and emerged as a paramahamsa, an enlightened being.2 Kumarasamy Chettiar spent the rest of his life in Varanasi committed henceforth only with Paramashiva, until the time came when he merged with Him in the ultimate and final state.
Kumarasamy Chettiar
Kumarasamy Chettiar's first son was Sri Sami Chettiar, who inherited the agricultural lands of their family’s heritage and managed the workers and the sale of the grain from these farms for all of his life. As a man whose work revolved around the natural and simple laws of agriculture, this quality permeated into his life outside of work. Sami Chettiar lived an austere and celibate lifestyle; wearing only two dhotis his whole life, eating only one meal per day and sleeping only on a thin mat on the ground. He was married to Dhanakotti Ammal but the pair never had any children. Sami Chettiar passed away in 1969, yet his wife lived on until she was 100 years old
Sami Chettiar
Sri Annamalai Chettiar was the second son of Kumarasamy Chettiar, and was married to Anusuyammal. Annamalai Chettiar died in 1970 before the marriage of his second son, Sri Arunachalam and the advent of The Avatar. Anusuyammal demonstrated how a widow can live powerfully, dedicate herself to the welfare of the people who lived around her and live with utmost integrity to Paramashiva. She used to go to the Arunachaleshwara temple everyday, and devotedly do girivalam, walking the full 14 km around Arunachala up until the last day of her life. Kumarasamy Chettiar had a third child, Dhanakoti ammal, who devotedly worshipped Lord Muruga and lived a disciplined, active and healthy lifestyle until she was 93 years of age.
Annamalai Chettiar
Anusuya Ammal
Dhanakoti Ammal
Kannammal and her husband Rajagopal Chettiar.
Kannammal is the sister of Annamalai Chettiar, The Avatar's paternal grandfather, who passed away very early.
Due to their excellent performance of supreme devotion and sacrifice for consecutive generations, this family was blessed with the birth of Paramashiva Himself, who only found more and more reason to grace the family where devotion and surrender to Him is so clearly ingrained in their blood.
maternal line
The maternal grandfather of His Divine Holiness was Sri Raju Mudaliar from the small village of Pakkam on the road from Vizhupuram to Pondicherry. Before the age of eighteen, Raju Mudaliar's both parents tragically passed away and he was left orphaned before he became mature. Without anyone to call his own, Sri Raju Mudaliar walked to the town of the Thiruvannamalai and adopted the Lord, Arunachaleshwara as his beloved father. For his simple integrity and devotion, Paramashiva accepted him as his family and blessed him by incarnating as his own grandson in 1978. Raju Mudaliar began to work in the streets of Thiruvannamalai, first laboring as a delivery boy for the rice shop owners and shifting the 100 kg rice bags, and then slowly becoming a trusted assistant and learning from them. Sri Raju Mudaliar established his own rice shop and became well known and influential in the trade in and around the town of Thiruvannamalai. He was married to Ma Yellammal and their first child was Lokanayaki, who would be the mother of The Avatar.
Raju Mudaliar and Yellammal
Ma Lokanayaki was born in 1955 in the Kumari Kovil Street of Thiruvannamalai, South India. For 45 years she lived within four streets of the Arunachaleshwara Temple. For the Jagatguru, the one who guides the whole Universe as Guru, Ma Lokanayaki was the blessed soul who held His hands and guided His first baby steps, as He was in the form of a doe-eyed infant and adored by the whole of Thiruvannamalai
In the beginning years of her life Ma Lokanayaki attended the same school which the young Avatar, His Divine Holiness Himself, would enact many leelas, years later, the Kanniga Parameshwari School. In around her 7th or 8th grade, the great enlightened being, Isakki Swamigal3, who was the predecessor of His Divine Holiness in the Arunachala Sampradaya and who guided Him in the study of Vedanta and Tantra, instructed Ma Lokanayaki to do girivalam, the circumambulation of Arunachala. She was to follow this intense spiritual practice every day for a year, in order to prepare her body for being the channel for Paramashiva to incarnate in the human form. That year diligently every day after she awoke and took bath, she offered her whole self to Paramashiva in the austere practice of performing the circumambulation of Arunachala just as she would years later when she became the vessel for Him to enter the physical plane. After many births of intense penance and sincere devotion, Ma Lokanayaki’s mind and inner space was already made perfect for birthing Paramashiva Himself yet her physical body needed to undergo purification. During these early mornings as her muscles were still maturing at the age of 12, she exercised her body with intense devotion and made it ready for its divine purpose even before physical maturity. Just as she would walk with Paramashiva in her womb years later, Ma Lokanayaki walked, carrying Him in her heart as per the instructions of Paramashiva who said: āsannaprasavā nārī yathā gacchedanākulam, tathā pradakṣiṇaṃ kuryādaśṛnvaṃśca padadhvaniṃ, Arunachala Mahatmyam (Just as a pregnant woman nearing delivery walks gently and calmly , similarly one should circumambulate (the sacred Arunachala hill) even such that one does not hear one's own footsteps) 4
In 1974, with the blessings and guidance of Mathaji Vibhutananda Puri, the direct disciple of Isakki Swamigal and next inheritor of Arunachala Sampradaya, Anusuyammal, mother of Sri Arunachalam, and Raju Mudaliar, arranged the marriage of their two children.The date of their auspicious nuptials was set for June 26 1974. On the occasion, the whole town of Thiruvannamalai and the Cosmos itself celebrated their union in matrimony as the divine leela , the enactment, of Paramashiva Himself on Planet Earth was about to unfold. 5
Biological parents: affectionately called 'Swami amma' and 'Swami appa'
Arunachalam and Lokanayaki, The Avatar's biological parents. Picture taken in ~1988.
Footnotes
- There are records which are currently being collected of taxes being paid by the family of His Divine Holiness for the last 300 years.
- His Divine Holiness reveals how Kumarasamy Chettiar renounced all his wealth in the talk “ Siddha Tradition Day 4 Mystical or Psychic - Nithyananda Morning Satsang (16 Nov, 2010) Message”, from 16 Nov 2010 YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a0tQsDwTA
- Ma Lokanayaki recalls this one instruction given by Isakki Swamigal to her when she was in 7th grade even years later, as it was one of the first initiations she received from these great enlightened beings who would facilitate the happening superconsciousness through her body.
- Arunachala Mahatmyam chapter 9 verse 37
- Marriage Album of Ma Lokanayaki and Sri Arunachalam Part 1