Invitation to Mahaashivarathri-2016 from Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj International Trust

The Passing of Chinakka, Swamiji's Sister

Dear Fellow Devotees of Swamiji Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj,

We wish to inform you of the sad demise of Swamiji’s elder sister (the younger of His two elder sisters) at 12:30 AM on Monday the 3rd of March 2014 at Adivarapupeta. Her name was Sathyam Bondu, however she was known to devotees of Swamiji as "Chinnakka." She was about 88 years of age and died of old age. She was the last surviving sibling of Shivabalayogi.

She was doing quite well until the last few days and used to participate in the mass feeding being conducted at the ashram every fortnight – on the full moon and new moon days.

I had been to Adivarapupeta, along with forty other devotees from Bangalore, to participate in the Mahashivaratri celebrations on the 27th and 28th of February. We missed Chinnakka at the ashram during the Mahashivaratri. We were told that she was at the ashram towards the end of January but later fell sick due to high blood sugar levels and was hospitalised for a couple of days. She was discharged from the hospital two days before she passed away. We were at Adivarapupeta when Chinnakka passed away. Early in the morning we went to the house of "Annavaram," one of Chinnakka’s sons, to pay our last respects to her by garlanding her body and performing a puja to it. Later, her body was taken around the village in a procession as per the local custom and was also brought to the ashram to Swamiji’s Samadhi. All her surviving sons and daughters-in-law were with her during her last days as they had been informed about the deterioration of her health.

She is survived by four of her sons, daughters-in-law and several grandchildren. Chinnakka and her children served Swamiji for several years traveling with Him and attending to His personal needs. May Swamiji bless her soul with peace!

Regards, Jagadish.

Mahashivaratri in Adivarapupeta

Tapas Anniversary, August 7

Wednesday, August 7, 2013, is the 52nd anniversary of Shivabalayogi completing tapas, twelve years of meditation in samadhi.

The anniversary is celebrated in ashrams and centers and by devotees throughout the world. The real celebration is by the Yogi within celebrating the Yogi in all lovers of the Divine.

Passings: Bhadra Rao & S. Veereshaiah

We remember Kaleakanda Bhadra Rao (left), who was a childhood playmate of Swamiji in Adivarapupeta, and Mr. S. Veereshaiah (right), who hosted Swamiji in Dombivli (Bombay suburb). Both recently passed away. The links are to pages about these devotees in the Soul Connections section of the Shivabalayogi website.

Adivarapupeta Meditation Hall

Recent photo of the new Dhyana Mandir,
Adivarapupeta ashram.

Architect's drawing showing the spire over the Samadhi
and the larger dome of the Dhyana Mandir.

Photo taken from the guest building shows the roof of the
temple, then the tower of the Samadhi itself, then the
concrete dome of the new Dhyana Mandir.

Recent photos taken at the Adivarapupeta ashram show the development of the new Dhyana Mandir (meditation temple or hall) being constructed next to the Samadhi.

The space inside is carpeted and already being used. It was the venue for the annual devotees' meeting conducted by the International Trust this.

The Samadhi is where the sacred body of Shivabalayogi was interred on April 2, 1994. It is a relatively small space which will be connected to the much larger Dhyana Mandir.

The large hall will allow many devotees to attend and participate in the various functions and pujas that take place in the Samadhi.

Mahashivaratri 2013

You are invited to celebrate Mahashivaratri in Adivarapupeta.

Mahashivaratri, the Great Night of Shiva, falls on March 10 this year. It is the main annual function at the Shivabalayogi ashram in Adivarapupeta, the sacred place where the great Yogi of Yogis sat for almost all of his twelve-year tapas — meditation in samadhi, the state of enlightenment.

Mahashivaratri is the most auspicious time of year for the presence of Lord Shiva, Shivabalayogi's Divine Guru, God in the form of a yogi. It is also a celebration of the presence of Shivabalayogi, a manifestation of Lord Shiva Himself.

Those who visit the Mother Ashram know his presence there can be felt physically, just like his own physical body. That presence is even more profound during the Great Night of Shiva.

Before Shri Swamiji dropped his own physical form, he always returned to his native village of Adivarapupeta to celebrate Mahashivaratri. His presence in that ashram is as important as it is powerful.

Now that Shivabalayogi is in mahasamadhi — the great or ultimate samadhi — he gives even more experiences to assure us that he is ever present. "You need experiences. That is what I give."

Photo taken on March 13, 1994, when Shivabalayogi took devotees

bathing in the ocean at Kakinada, near Adivarapupeta. Knowing

Shri Swamiji's love of boat rides, local devotees borrowed a

fishing boat. You can see video taken on this same occasion

at YouTube, Shivabalayogi Kakinada Sea Bath.

The trustees of the Adivarapupeta Ashram Trust and the trustees of the Shivabalayogi International Trust warmly invite you to experience and celebrate the profound blessings of the Great Night of Shiva in Adivarapupeta.

Guests can be assured of hospitable accommodations. There is never any charge for His blessings!

Shivabalayogi is a great ship, an ark of unlimited capacity, carrying one and all across the ocean of existence.

Celebrating Mahashivaratri in Adivarapupeta reminds us that the journey of life can be blissful.

Birthday Invitation Adivarapupeta

Adivarapupeta trustees and devotees cordially invite you to attend Shivabalayogi's 78th birthday celebration this January 24, 2013.

The festivities include puja worship and mass feeding, then bhajans in the evening.

[Double-click on any image in this blog and you will get a full-size image on your screen.]

Happy birthday Swamiji!

Swamiji's blessings to all!

Festival of Goda Kalyanam

Goda Kalyanam (the wedding of Goda devi) celebrates the marriage of Goda devi, an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, with Lord Ranganatha, an aspect of Lord Vishnu. Lakshmi and Vishnu are the female-male aspects of God in the form of the Sustainer of creation. The festival is being celebrated in the Adivarapupeta ashram this January 13 to 14. All are invited and welcome.

Goda devi is an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. She was found as a child under a basil tree by a great devotee named Nammalvar who raised her in Sri Villiputturu. Goda devi was very attracted towards Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Ranganatha Swami. She refused to marry any human being. She used to make garlands for Lord Ranganatha, and before sending them to the temple, she would wear them before a mirror to see whether it would be nice on Lord Ranganatha. One day the father saw her wearing the garland before sending it to the temple and scolded her for it. (Garlands made for deities are not to be worn by another.)

Goda devi felt very sad about what she had done. But Lord Ranganatha appeared in her father's dream and told him that he likes the garlands to be worn by Goda devi. The god instructed the father to bring garlands to the temple every day only after Goda devi had tried them on.

Lord Ranganatha informed the king and the priests of the temple that he would marry Goda devi in Sri Rangam. Goda devi went to Sri Rangam with her father. The Lord appeared in the form of divine light married her. Finally Goda devi merged into Lord Ranganatha.

Happy New Year 2013

Invitation to Adivarapupeta for Navaratri & Dasara

Navaratri, "Nine Nights", celebrates the various aspects of Goddess (Devi) Divine Mother. The tenth night, Dasara or Dashara (literally, "Remover of Bad Fate"), marks the victory of Goddess over the demons of life, and is a major celebration in India.

Invitation to Adivarapupeta, Tapas Anniversary

All are invited to the Adivarapupeta ashram for August 7th, 2012, to celebrate the 51st anniversary of Shivabalayogi completing twelve years of tapas.

Invitation to Adivarapupeta for Mahashivaratri, 2012

The trustees and devotees of the Adivarapupeta ashram invite and welcome all to celebrate the great night of Shiva, the new moon night that occurs on Monday, February 20, in this year of 2012.


Bhajans continue until sunrise, and that day after Mahashivaratri, the ashram and the International Trust provide a mass feeding (annadanam) for many hundreds if not thousands.

Invitation to Adivarapupeta for Mahashivaratri, 2012

The Adivarapupeta Ashram Trust and the Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj International Trust invite and welcome all devotees to celebrate Mahashivaratri in Adivarapupeta, the sacred site of Shivabalayogi's twelve-year tapas.

This year, 2012, is particularly auspicious as the fiftieth anniversary of Shivabalayogi consecrating the Shivalinga (Ardhanarishwara Swami) and the idol of Devi in the place where he sat for almost ten of his twelve years of intense meditation, now inside the holy of holies of the Adivarapupeta temple. 

The day before Mahashivaratri is the occasion for a general meeting of devotees conducted by the International Trust.  It is a unique opportunity for all devotees to share their experiences and plans to make the spiritual blessings of Shivabalayogi available to all who seek.

Adivarapupeta Ashram on Telugu Television

The Adivarapupeta ashram was featured on a recent, popular Telugu channel ETV2 broadcast.

One can see views of the ashram buildings, many scenes inside the Shiva Parvati temple, including puja (worship) to the gods, a short scene inside the Samadhi, and various ashram activities.

The program, in three segments, can be seen on YouTube:

Part 1  Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-1(Telugu),

Part 2  Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-2(Telugu), and

Part 3.   Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-3(Telugu)

Thanks to Sudarshan for providing these links.

Adivarapupeta Ashram on Television

A popular Telugu Channel ETV 2, visited the Adivarapupeta ashram and recorded Swamiji's Samadhi, the temple of Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi temple, and the ashram activities. The program will be televised on the following days and times.

ETV2 Telugu
Monday, 12 September, 2011  7:00 AM to 07:30 AM IST
Tuesday, 13 September, 2011, 1:00 AM to 01:30 AM IST

The programs can also be seen at these same dates and times on the web:
http://www.yupptv.com/etv2_live.html
http://www.freedocast.com/etv2channel

K. Yashoda: Tapas Anniversary in Adivarapupta

We celebrated Shri Swamiji’s 50th tapo siddhi anniversary in Adivarapupeta in very grand fashion. We started the 50th tapo siddhi function on 21st June, 2011.

Shri Swamiji completed his tapas in Adivarapupeta fifty years ago to show mankind the way to conquer ego and misfortune through meditation, to get whatever we need in this life, and to get God realization.
To remember his mission of meditation, we invited and encouraged devotees to do 48 days of meditation starting June 21 and continuing through August 6 of 2011. Some joined after two or three weeks and were doing meditation whichever way they could. Some reached up to ten hours of meditation at a time during this period. They had nice experiences. Even in their own places, devotees were encouraged by this request and started doing more and more meditation. They gathered at Adivarapupeta at the end of the 48 day period and participated in the August 7th function.

On 4th of August, we arranged a grand chariot procession in Ramachandrapuram with bhajans, drums and trumpets. In front of the procession, we arranged for announcements about Shri Swamiji’s life history and the purpose of meditation. Shri Swamiji was taken in the chariot in the streets of Ramachandrapuram. People gathered everywhere and offered arthi and flower garlands to Shri Swamiji. Invitations and pamphlets about meditation were distributed to the crowd.

On 5th of August, a big procession was arranged in Draksharama. This went around the streets of Draksharama until 8:30 in the evening. The Draksharama procession started at 4:30 in the evening with 50 members of dancing people called garadi, a cultural dance of Andhra Pradesh. Behind the dancers showing their talents were drummers with very big drums, about six feet wide, with a big sweet sound.  Sri Swamiji travelled in a big decorated vehicle with beautiful lights in the shape of a flower. The lights in the petals were blinking in different colors giving an impression of Devaloka (the world of the gods; heaven). In the middle of flower, Shri Swamiji was sitting with half closed eyes.

As soon as the procession started people felt a spiritual current passing from Swamiji to whoever was standing in the streets. People were seen with tears in their eyes, affected by the currents from Shri Swamiji. Sometimes we could see Swamiji’s hands waving towards us from the chariot. The photo was of Shri Swamiji in a white shawl, but Shri Swamiji gave us darshan from the chariot wearing a blue shawl. It was a remarkable experience.

The dancers were attracting children who were passing by. They followed behind the puppet dancers happily dancing and calling them by name. Big fireworks with crackers and lights were arranged along with the chariot. Pamphlets about meditation were distributed.

The chariot with Shri Swamiji in the centre slowly entered Adivarapupeta at nine o’clock in the night. The people of Adivarapupeta remembered the old days when Shri Swamiji entered the village for Mahashivaratri function. Even at ten o’clock in the night, the people of Adivarapupeta waited at their doorsteps to greet Shri Swamiji with arthi plates and flower garlands. The youngsters asked the dancers to come to their own streets and dance, so that Shri Swamiji would also come and bless their houses.
The procession was grand. The very real spiritual presence of Shri Swamiji in front of them, people were stuck up with tears and shock.

The procession was so large that the tree braches lining the streets of Adivarapupeta were a bit of an obstacle. Volunteers cut the lower branches and the procession slowly moved from one front door to the next, receiving greetings of the devotees.

The procession entered into the ashram at eleven in the night. Shri Swamiji was given a grand welcome by the devotees in the ashram. They got trance and started dancing in front of the chariot at the ashram entrance. Shri Swamiji entered the Samadhi at 11:30 p.m. and distributed prasadam. Mass feeding got started at 11:30 p.m.

Adivarapupeta Samadhi, Swamiji's birthday January 24, 2011

The August 7th function went on very well with homa and beautiful bhajans. Of course, people were happy to see Shri Swamiji with his beautiful smile in the decorated Samadhi, a big garland of roses around his neck. Devotees offered silk shawls and flower garlands to Swamiji without interval. At one o’clock, the ashram trustees served a big mass feeding. Evening programs started with puja at Shri Swamiji’s Samadhi. It was a pleasurable experience to watch. Devotees gathered around Swamiji and chanted his 108 names, offering puja with flowers and heartfelt devotion.

After Samadhi puja, the children’s bhajan group performed dances for the song of Shri Swamiji’s history, showing how he took birth in Adivarapupeta and how he was made to sit in tapas by Lord Shiva and got God realization. It was a beautiful performance of the village children. Hands up for them. At seven o’clock in the evening, a second mass feeding started.  More than thousand devotees had their spiritual food that night.

To see video of the dance program inside the Adivarapupeta temple, follow these YouTube links:
http://youtu.be/YM5uSPCScQ4

http://youtu.be/YvnzodvGWsg

50th Tapas Anniversary, Bangalore, Dehradun, Adivarapupeta

The new idol of Swamiji installed

in the temple at the Bangalore ashram.

Bangalore   August 7th program this year at Bangalore was celebrated with bhajans, homa, abhishekam and annadanam (mass feeding). Many devotees were in bhava samadhi.  The special events this year were the consecration of a new temple to Five-Faced Hanuman (panchamukhi hanuman), a project undertaken by Mr. Doraiswami, one of the ashram trustees, and the installation of a new marble statue (murthy) of Shivabalayogi inside the temple on its south side.

The new statue was undertaken by two Bangalore devotees who noticed that many people coming to the temple did know about Swamiji. They come just to see the gods. So Mr. Mohan and Mr. Madhu, as well as Mr. K. B. Vishwanath, the working Chairman of the Bangalore Trust, wanted people to know that this is an ashram and who is Swamiji. Mr. Vishwanath proposed the idea to the Bangalore trustees who supported the idea.

Mr. Viswanath and his wife Smt. K. Accava Viswanath graciously donated the entire cost of of the sculpture. The statue has been installed in the place where Swamiji used to sit during temple functions.

The chief guest this year was Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah, retired Chief Justice of India. He spoke to the crowd after the homa and described how he has known Shivabalayogi since the 1960’s. A former trustee of the Bangalore Trust, he spent a great deal of time with Swamiji, often not leaving his ashram until very late at night. In those early years at the original Bannerghatta Road ashram, Swamiji got very frustrated with all the difficulties the devotees were suffering. When Swamiji threatened to leave Bangalore for good, Justice Venkatachalaiah helped convince Swamiji to stay and helped him obtain the present ashram site.

Baba Shivarudrabalayogi from Dehradun also addressed the devotees after the homa, assuring them, as he has in Adivarapupeta during Mahashivaratri, that Shivabalayogi continues to work through bhava samadhi. He made no mention of his emergency appeal over the internet on July 17 asking devotees to complain about encroachments at the Dehradun ashram, and Baba’s own threat to fast until death. Very few devotees in Bangalore know about this emergency appeal by Baba.

Dehradun  A group of fifteen to twenty long-time devotees of Swamiji gathered in General Hanut Singh’s home at the Dehradun ashram on August 7th to celebrate the 50th tapas anniversary with meditation, kirtan (bhajans) and bandhara (annadanam). We understand that programs will continue monthly at the General’s house.

The homa and programs in the main Dehradun ashram concluded by reading a prepared message from Baba. You can read more about this function at Baba's website, http://www.shivarudrabalayogi.org.

Adivarapupeta   This year, Miss K. Yashoda invited devotees to celebrate the 50th tapas anniversary with a 48 day meditation retreat at the Adivarapupeta ashram, ending on August 7th. Two devotees, one from Bangalore and another from Delhi, joined on June 20th; others joined later. After his return, the Bangalore devotee described how his daily meditation increased to twelve hours, some days eighteen hours. He said he became able to communicate with cows, snakes and other animals around the ashram.

The day before the anniversary, Miss Yashoda organized a procession with a huge picture of Swamiji through the streets of nearby Draksharam and Ramachandrapuram.

We hope to have photos and more information to you in our next Shivabalayogi Currents report.