Sunday, May 11, 2008

Siddhar Bogar Samadhi, Palani Murugan Temple

The definition of enlightenment has many expressions; the value of perfection can turn the unreal into a spectacular world of intrigue of what is possible in this world that we live in. In the era 3000 B.C. that we so misjudged as belonging to the primitive period has recorded the life of at least one person who surpassed most human beings in the quest for knowledge and the power of wisdom.

3000 B.C. a world that was still waking up to evolution witnessed the presence of Siddhar Bogar, a powerful astrologer, and a yogi who had mastered the science of medicine perfectly. The highlights of his life maybe plenty but those that would intrigue us today are recorded in the Saptakanda, a work that describes in detail the presence of an aircraft that took him all the way to China where he imparted his knowledge. Another intriguing fact is that he used 9 poisons or the Nava Bhashanam to make a statue of Lord Muruga (Dandapani vigraha) which has since been installed in the Murugan temple at Palani near Madhurai and is still worshipped. The interesting aspect of this idol is that its composition of 9 poisons (made out of 4000 rare herbs), elicits life giving essence into the fluids of libation as the abhishekam progresses which cures all human diseases when consumed.


Siddhar Bogar’s shrine, his Samadhi is what remains today as a powerful example of the difference in lifestyle, the deep rooted principles and values that once governed the people of this soil. We all live in the same world, making use of probably the same things to evolve, yet the intensity of worship and the much needed awareness to realize these methods of living are not half as strong now.

Few things come to light in the life of this phenomenon called Siddhar Bogar. He initially worshiped the Kamandalam on the peetha and the rishi muni dandam or staff atop the hill at Palani. He subsequently prepared the idol of Muruga (Dandapani vigraha) out of 9 poisons that magically cures people of their ailments when the fluids of libation are consumed after abhishekam. Bogar is known to have made his own Samadhi, his final resting place in this form which is a cave he dug out, a chamber under the very idol of Muruga (Dandapani vigraha). It was here that he took Jeeva Samadhi. Siddhar Bogar lived for aprox. 300 years and 18 days.

The life of Siddhar Bogar is amazing, intriguing and gives us an idea of a world we wish we were a part of. Few have brought alive the picture of his Samadhi, and among those who have is Artist Silpi who has vividly captured every essence of what is found back in this cave that still exalts Siddhar Bogar’s energy. This is a potent place of worship, which is crowned by a throne that was created by Siddhar Bogar himself. He used the 8 shaktis, the nava Durga, Sri Bhuvaneshwari, and most importantly the Maragadha Lingam (emerald Linga) that crowns this throne. It is a complex vigraha comprising of a stone altar that hosts the main emerald Shiva Linga at the top surrounded by the Goddesses at various levels. As part of the worship is also the present the right faced conch shell, and two yantras that capture the essence of the Goddess and Lord Shiva within them.


It is a potent world, energized not just by the presence of a dual yantra, but by the powerful magnetic field present in the Samadhi of this great Siddhar. The passage way to heaven is not just a journey down spiritualism, but a unique magical world of powers expressed in various forms depicted through the life of this great Siddhar. Few others are blessed to express this beauty by representing it in color for lesser mortals like us. The profound depth of sacred reality is rendered by Artist Silpi in this painting who spent 40 days within this cave to capture this unique throne for the world to witness, a throne found nowhere else, a profound example of salvation being found in intense devotion be it science, medicine, art and sculpture to inspire humanity in the years to come.

Also read: Samadhi: Path to the Perfect Cave

Photo courtesy: Silpi Mahalingam, son of Artist Silpi.

20 comments:

Madhu Saravana Sibi said...

Hi Kavitha,

Thanks for the excellent post on the Bogar Samadhi - keep up the good work!

Regards,
Sibi Govindan

Aswin Kini said...

This is one of the best ones that i have read so far. Navabashanam(Made of 9 poisons) and Navalokam(I donno whether i am correct, it refers to something made from 9 different metals such as Iron, Copper, Gold, Silver and Mercury).
It sometimes amazes me when i see teh achievements of our ancestors.

It is said that Sushrutha and Charka performed Plastic Surgery ,using mere stone tools purified by herbs, 2050 years before. There were imminent physicians like Bhaskara and great mathematicians like Aryabhatta, whose works prove to be accurate to the last decimal.

It is strange that inspite of being the land of such spiritually renowned people, we are still lagging behind the US and other european nations in terms of money and technology.
We have ignored a glorius past, failing to utilize the present and are yet looking for a glorius future?????

Anonymous said...

Excellent work,
I thought nava bhashanam comprised of 9 poisonous medicines that are formed by 4448 rare herbals. And do you know any details regarding his manuscripts ?

Anonymous said...

Hi kavitha,

nice work, it is true,
the navabashanam is made by Bogar and his 81 students. From 4860 herbs they extracted 81 compositions.

From that they made the 9 deadly poisons. by the process of heating with different kind of heating process(ex. wood burning, coal. metal heating, clay pot making etc)

It is true that he lived for 300 years now the science has discovered that we can also live long by stemcell and its process.

But bogar has also made some mistake. the false navabashana idos is still in some temple near by palani. Then only he made the right one that was in the palani temple and the other small idols are somewhere in tamilnadu and abroad.

hai20foru said...

i have read history of palani statue here very nice. u has given more details.i want to know more details about bogar siddhar
can u help me sir
yours kindly
shiva

Ram said...

Hi ..


Thanks for your Information. I need more information about the Siddhar's life.

Anonymous said...

sir,
i want to all details and the works by this great siddhar and his works

ojo said...

hi, kavitha.. tis venkatesh from cbe..if u wan any detais abt my (appa) bogar u can mail me ojo127@gmail.com.truly speakin ive got invoved in siddha margam and travelin in it... and my guru kailasanadhar is an yogi had spent his entire life in spiritual.he is in palani now...there is more abt my appa... the news u ve got is little unknown is ocean.....

ojo said...

hi, kavitha... the matter u known is llittle... unknown is ocean... fortunatey ive got t path to travel in siddha margam... and ive coected many detais abt my (appa) bogar from my guru who is yogi spent his life in spirituality......

Unknown said...

Thanks a lot for ur great attempt and I am very proud to say abt Silpi...He is one of my Inspiration master in line drawing...And I copied Silpi's works images from ur blog...Pls...Kindly accept it...Thanks a lot...

Anonymous said...

www.facebook.com/aarupadai.veedu

Unknown said...

Sir / Medam

If Possible Kindly Tell Where is the place bogar made navabashana vigraha near by palani or somewhere else?

Regards, G.Saravanakumaar_Chennai

ojo said...

yeah, the boghar peruman made navaphasana murugan idol near by palani.its on t way to dindugal a hill.but u cant go there.near by there is amman temple where bogar peruman started his work...

sai said...

Its very interesting that Indians(TAMILS) have extraordinary intelligence in mastering the medicines around 3000BC! . thanks to Bogar who made us proud

sasikumar said...

u could also pls post about his guru thirumular & seedan pulipani siddhar. thank you for ur use full post.

sasikumar said...

this is use full message for me. thank you. can u able to post pulipani & thirumular histor.

ojo said...

For ur kind information Kalanginathar is guru for bogar not Thirumoolar.Not only pulippani, Karuvurar is also Bogar ayya's disciple.his samadhi is in Karur in Pasupatheesvarar temple.he is one fixed the lingam in peedam in Tanjore temple while Raja Raja Cholan and workers can't.Karuvurar siddhar took Amirdham from his mouth and fixed the lingam.He was sent by Bogar ayya tocdo this work.

ur8 said...

Can some one tell me the story of kaya kalpa?and how bhogar siddha is related to it??

sandeep said...

Where is the Saptakanda now? I understand that Bogar documented all his knowledge about Medicine and Martial Arts in a book before he started his journey to China.
Where are all these scriptures.

S.Chandrasekar said...

Recently I completed a book that throws light on the life and achievements of Siddhar Bogar. I had the opportunity to have his darshan at vadapalani junction few years ago. The book has been an assignment entrusted to me by the divine siddhar himself.

I have written the book based on my research on Sapthakandam. The book title is ATHISAYA SIDDHAR BOGAR.

For the questions asked in this page by Ohm, venkat, chn, sasi, ojo, V, sandeep; you can find answers in my book. Sure, the book is going to be a hit by his blessings.

The book is to be released in June-2013 by Karpagam Puthakalayam, 4/2, Sundaram Street, (Near Natesan park) T.Nagar, Chennai 600 017. Ph: 044-24314347