It is a very significant day in Periyava’s life – not for Him – for us! For Him all days are the same..This exact same day in 1978, Periyava woke up at 3AM as usual in Thenambakkam and asked Kumaresan mama to go to Brahmasri Neelakkal Ramu (Ramachandra) Sastrigal’s house to make him open the Kamkshi amman temple for darshan and started walking towards the temple. After getting the darshan, this Parabrahmam started walking 20 kms/day for next 2 years towards Satara blessing thousands of devotees throughout His padha yatra. After four years, upon requests from HH Pudhu Periyava and all other devotees, He decided to come back to Kanchipuram. On this same day in 1984, He arrived in Kanchipuram. Kanchipuram witnessed one of the grandest celebrations ever.
Here is the photo of Brahmasri Ramu Sastrigal when I visited them in my India trip. He cherishes memories from Periyava days; how He did puja; how He does abishekam etc. His family continues to be the priest for Kamakshi amman temple for generations – even today. Thanks to Shri Ramanan, Shri Kumaresan mama for taking me there….
(From L to R: Shri Kumaresan Mama, Brahmasri Neelakkal Ramu Sastrigal, Shri Ramanan, Shri Sundar)
