Sadhguru Swami

Revered as the father of establishing the Dakshina Bhajan Sampradaya Paddhati by building on the legacy of great acharyas Shri Bodhendra Swamigal and Shridhara Ayyaval, the Maruthanallur Shri Sadguru Swamigal has exemplified a pure and pi­ous life of a Bhagavatar.    He was born as Venkataraman in the year 1777 in a Telugu Brahmin family in Thiruvisainallur. His father had great interests and profound knowledge in sacred scriptures and Vedas. Venkataraman learned Veda Sastras under the guidance of his father; he also had the opportunity to learn the sacred scriptures and life of holy men and saints, especially the great epic Shrimad Ramayana. He cultivated the habit of chanting Rama Nama and immersed in this nectar he identified himself as Lord Rama.

 Venkataraman initially following the path of his father and chose the performance of Vedic rituals and Shraddha as livelihood. But his passion for Rama nama diverted him away from material life soon. Though he was married, he felt that the chores of family life were too much, not giving the time for Rama Nama Japam, so he dis­carded the family life and started on a spiritual journey for Ayodhya.  Immersed in chanting Rama Nama and engaged in Uncchavruthi, he eventually reached Andhra Pradesh en route to Ayodhya. There he found masses of people travelling to Tirupathi singing and awareness and Bhakti cult to the people of the country through a revolutionary musical mix.

 On that night Shri Bodhendra Swamigal appeared in his dream, advised him that he had already realized the purpose of his life and there was no need for him to go to Ayodhya and therefore he should return to his native place for propagating Nama Bhakti. Venkataraman sincerely followed the instructions of his Acharya and returned to Maruthanallur.  Then he visited Govindapuram to worship the Samadhi of Shri Bodhendra Swamigal but was unable to locate the Samadhi even after trying hard for nine days. However on the tenth day, he heard the music of Rama Nama Japam coming from under the ground on the river bank. There he identified the Jeeva Samadhi of Shri Bodhendral. With the help of King Sarafoji, Sadguru Swamigal constructed a temple at the site for his guru Shri Bodhendral.

 Shri Sadguru Swamigal performed many miracles during his life of devotion to God.

 There was a person called BalaGaneshan who initially scoffed at Sadguru but was later on cured of a serious ailment by the Sadguru and became a deep devotee of Swamigal. He introduced a spectacular form of Sampradaya Bhajan, by meticulous­ly incorporating the stunning compositions of many great souls such as Bodhendral, Shridhara Ayyaval, Jayadeva, Bhadrachalam Ramadasar, Tyagarajar, Purandara­dasar, Tukaram etc in many languages and with many musical instruments.

 A mutt was established in Maruthanallur and Sampradaya Bhajan was taught to the people at large.  In this way, he introduced an exceptional form of worship of the Lord and created an enormous awareness amongst the public. He also forged specific paddhatis for the performance of divine weddings such as Radha Kalyanam, Sita Kalyanam, Rukmini Kalyanam etc and in a short span of time made them very popular celebrations. Gradually he was known by the name of Maruthanallur Shri Sadguru Swamigal.

 Sadguru Swamigal attained Samadhi at Thiruvavaduthurai Shri Jagathrakshaka Pe­rumal Temple in the year 1817, on the day prior to Rama Navami. Though he lived only a short span of life he did so much for the cause of Sampradaya Bhajan and to establish it as a divine art form of Bhakti. Fittingly, he is revered as one of the trimurties of Dakshina Sampradaya Bhajan.

 Some popular songs sung in his praise in Bhajans are given below:

•                    Bhaje Sadgurum Anisham Bhaje

•                    Chintaya Re Sadgurum Santatam

•                    Athade Parabramhambani Madilo

•                    Sadgurumeva Sadaaham

•                    Varaguru Upadesha Neravaagitu

•                    Guru moulimane Bhaje Bhavantam (including many Gurus)