A Thirteen year old Swaminathan nurtured a great wish to visit the Nataraja temple of Chidamabaram. His desire grew leaps and bounds even after he was anointed the monastic head of the Kanchi Shankaracharya Mutt as Pujya Sri Chandrashekhara Saraswathi Mahaswamigal, lovingly called by one and all as Maha Periyava.
When Mahaperiyava decided to embark on his first ever Padayatra, it was from Kalavai/ Kanchi to Chidambaram. Chidambaram in 1933 was visited by Maha Periyava and a radiant mahaperiyava emerged from the closed sanctum after 4 hours of closed door closed door confabulations with the then priest, Shri Swarna venkatesha dhikshitar.
Perhaps it was then, the Maha Periyava decided to have formulated his great, grand wish which is a vision for saivaites all around the globe, the wish that will unfold in this write up, and the wish that made me dash to a place where I didn't know a secret existed, even though I've been there over 10 - 15 times.
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| Many a secrets in Chidambaram.... |
But then yes, the one word that always comes to one's mind when the word Chidambaram is uttered is Rahasyam or secret. This secret is incidentally a secret about that cosmic secret!
The Maha Periyava traversed the length and breadth of the country during his various padayatras. What germinated as a wish during his first padayatra fructified during his last padayatra. Perhaps, was his search for the ideal place that made this great divine play? Or was is the case of perfect end to a perfect start that he had planned right in the beginning? One can never decode such secrets.
His last Padayatra was in the year 1978 and the destination of Satara, an obscure village in Maharashtra. He chose to stay there for a period of 11 months and there every dot fell in place to be connected to paint a beautiful picture. He unravelled many a secrets in Satara. During his 11 months stay at Satara, in the esteemed Shankara mutt, many a devotees paid their obeisance to Maha Periyava. Amongst them was one Shri Shamrao D Shanbhag, called as Shamanna. Shamanna offered money to the saint on his visit. Maha Periyava mere looked at the money and smiled and asked him to return tomorrow.
Shamanna was troubled that the saint didn't accept his offerings and thought perhaps it was a low amount and offered him more the next day. The Maha Periyava was amused more and told Shamanna that he doesn't accept money and asked him not to bother offering material things. Instead he probed about the desire Shamanna harboured. Shamanna begged his forgiveness for his earlier action and expressed his desire.
Shamanna's desire and Maha Periyava's cosmic drama and the rest of the secrets will be unravelled in the concluding part....
