Vainagaram Ramanatha Chettiar
Vainagaram Ramanatha Chettiar belonged to Amaravadipudur near Devakottai. He was an exception devotee of Shiva and would take his daily food only after the completion of his Siva puja. He always wore rudraksham and would be immersed in his puja for hours together. Apart from being a poet, he had researched the Thevaram, the Thiruvachakam and the Thirumandiram and would lecture on their merits to everyone.
He was also a trustee of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. Chettiar stayed at Kadiapatti for a week to have darshan of Swamigal who was camped there, behold( witness?) the Siva puja and converse with Swamigal about religious and worldly matters. He spent many hours daily talking to Swamigal. Nagarathar of Kadiapatti had arranged for a grand procession for Swamigal where he was carried in a palanquin. Thousands of people had come from out of town also to witness the procession. Swamigal noticed important and prominent people walking alongside the palanquin, but couldn’t find Ramanathan Chettiar. He pointed out the absence of Chettiar with whom he had spent hours in conversation in the past week. The procession completed and returned to the camp late,after one am in the morning. Swamigal was seated on a throne after the procession and he immediately called for Ramanathan Chettiar to be brought to him. Chettiar standing in the back in a corner came forward and prostrated before Swamigal. Our Swamigal asked him where he was all this time and why he was not to be found during the procession. Chettiar replied that he came along during the procession. Swamigal replied, he looked for him and couldn’t see Chettiar. In reply, Chettiar looked at Swamigal and said, “My shoulders have done great punya today by bearing His Holiness”. Swamigal smiled and replied, “Oh, you carried the palanquin, did you?”
Chettiar nodded in affirmation, and offered to Swamigal a song with five paragraphs composed by him. It described the ancient culture of Tamil Nadu where devotees took pride in carrying Saivite saints in palanquins. He had heard of the yatra done by Saivite saints to all Siva pilgrim centers and he saw that (same) glorious sight today when Swamigal went on the procession; it was indeed his previous good karma that gave him
the opportunity to carry Swamigal in his palanquin.
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