In Search of a Dirty, Divine Mystic

Azhukku Swamigal

In the Kongu dialect of yesteryear Coimbatore, there was an interesting figure of speech, which a mother would use to chide her mischievous little boy, who was much interested in playing but more reluctant to take bath as ‘Azhukku Saamiar’ (A dirty monk). But, it is true that a Siddha by the name Azhukku Swamigal once lived here nearly a century ago and the phrase could have crept into the language after the mystic.

Azhukku Swamigal lived inside the deep forests of Vellingiri Hills and believed to have mastered Tantra, Alchemy and Yoga inside the woods. When eminent Tamil scholar Ku. Natesa Gounder’s father visited the Vellingiri Hills in the dawn of the 20^th century, he met the mystic there and brought him to the city.

Though he got his name as Azhukku Swamigal after his habit of not taking bath, the mystic is believed to have possessed supernatural powers and tricks. He would hold the spectators spell-bound by his unbelievable performances like coming out of a locked house, making food appear inside an empty utensil, showing his appearance suddenly in a distant land and lighting a lamp with water as fuel! The mystic would also stand unaffected even after the bite of a venomous snake.

Despite his tit for tat for the people, who made fun of him at his appearance, the mystic played Good Samaritan to the hard-working poor.

“The thick woods of Coimbatore were once havens for mystics. And the remarkable  one, who lived at Vellingiri Hills about a century ago, is Azhukku Swamigal” says Prof. I. K Subramaniam, Assistant Editor of the Universal Tamil Encyclopedia.

Later, Azhukku Swamigal settled at one Ramu Mudaliar’s house in Vettaikaranpudur near Pollachi. During his stay, he requested Mudaliar’s wife Alamelu to plant saplings of trees like Vilvam (Bael), Vembu (Neem), Vanni (Indian mesquit) and a plant of Mandharai(Bauhinia purpurea) at a spot on the banks of river Upparu.

Planning to bid adieu to the world, he reduced his consumption of food and passed away within twelve days at Ramu Mudaliar’s home. In the meanwhile, he had asked Alamelu to bury him at the spot, where she planted the trees. The place, where he was buried, has now become a temple and being called as Azhukku Swamigal Kovil.

“Rangasamy, the chief minister of Pondicherry, who regularly visits the Azhukku Swamigal Kovil, is a pious devotee of the departed mystic” says Sirpi Balasubramaniam, Sahitya Akademy award winning poet and former Tamil professor, Bharathiyar University.

Elders recall that though Azhukku Swamigal had no habit of bathing, he could produce captivating fragrance around him all by his divine power.

Link to my article in The New Indian Express:http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/1153815

Compiled by: B. Meenakshi Sundaram

Source: Azhukku Swamigal – an article by Sirpi Balasubramaniam, Kongu Kalanjiyam - Vol 1.