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| The image of Shivabalayogi installed in Colombo. |
Shivabalayogi first visited Sri Lanka in 1971. It was his first trip outside of India. He returned to Sri Lanka on several occasions, including 1972, 1974, and 1978. On his 1981 visit, he installed a Shivalinga at Nuwara Eliya, and his last visit was in 1988. The Shivalinga which Shivabalayogi installed he named Lankadishwara, Lord of Lanka.
R. Raveendran gives us the following description of current Shivabalayogi programs in Sri Lanka:
Here in Sri Lanka when Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj visited our country there were articles published in our local media about Swamiji’s life history and the bhajan, meditation and darshan programmes arranged during his stay here in Sri Lanka. Since 2011 we had been once again writing articles on newspapers about our Swamiji, for the benefit of new generations, and inform people about Swamiji’s bhajan programmes being conducted in Colombo, Jaffna and Nuwara Eliya for them to participate and get the blessings of our Swamiji. The articles were published during the special occasions like Swamiji’s birthday, mahasamadhi remembrance day, Guru Poornima, and tapas siddhi (anniversary) day, and in 2011, we commenced publishing the articles with Swamiji’s birthday.
New people, who had not heard about Balayogi before, also attended these bhajan programs. A new devotee who saw the article prior to Guru Poornima celebration in 2012, attended this special bhajan, and continued to attend our fortnightly bhajan conducted in our Colombo centre (Maheswaran Anna’s house). This devotee was very much attracted towards Swamiji, and he got an opportunity to visit the Bangalore ashram during April this year (2013).
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| Shivabalayogi at the pool of Sita, near Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, around 1981. |
On Guru Poornima day we had a very good bhajan and handed over the blessed photo of Swamiji, along with vibuthi, to the devotee from Batticaloa who will be leading this centre. They have arranged a place in Vinayagar temple in Kiran Hardy Cashew plantation centre. This photo of Swamiji was installed in this place on the 6th of August followed by bhajan.
On the 7th August they celebrated Swamiji’s tapas anniversary with bhajan followed by distribution of prasadam to all devotees. They told us that they will have the bhajan every Friday from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon. Further, they have plans to go to temples in Batticaloa and have Swamiji’s bhajan, so that more people will come to know about Swamiji, and get benefitted.
At present we have Swami Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj’s bhajan conducted in the following places.
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| Shivabalayogi offering worship to Sri Lankadishwara Swami, May of 1981, when he installed the Shivalinga in Nuwara Eliya. |
Jaffna: Siva Mahakali Amman Temple, Potpathi Road, Kondavil East, Jaffna. Bhajan on every Saturday from 04:00 to 05:00 p.m. Swamiji’s only statue (made of granite) in Sri Lanka is in this temple, and it was carried from India by one of devotee in a shoulder bag without much effort, even though it was fairly heavy.
Nuwara Eliya: Sri Lankatheeswarar Temple, “Sri Nagar” 82, Lady McCallum’s Drive, Nuwara Eliya. Special poojs and abhishekam to Sri Lankadishwara Lingam, followed by bhajan and distribution of prasadam, on Swamiji’s special program days.
Manipay: Ithiyaddi Pilayaar Temple, Navaly South, Manipay. Pujas and abhishekam to pilayar followed by bhajan on Swamiji’s special days, and distribution of prasadam.
Batticaloa: Vinayagar Temple, Hardy Cashew Plantation, Kiran, Batticaloa. Bhajan conducted weekly every Friday, commencing at 10:00 A.M.
[Batticaloa is on the east coast of Sri Lanka; Colombo is on the west coast, and Nuwar Elya is in the center. Manipay is close to Jaffna which is to the far north.]
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| Recently published newspaper article on Shivabalayogi in Tamil. |
