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.

Swamiji's Birthday Invitation, Hyderabad

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.

The Bangalore Murthy

We are grateful to Mr. K. B. Viswanath for providing this additional information to the August 20, 2011, post on this blog.

The idea of installing a marble statue of Swamiji in the Bangalore ashram temple was proposed by Mr. Viswanath 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 earlier blog did not give proper credit to the Viswanaths' inspiration and generosity. The installation of Shivabalayogi's murthy in the Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara Temple is of great service and value for all devotees, as is Mr. Viswanath's ongoing work for Swamiji and devotees as working chairman of the Bangalore Trust.

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Viswanath.

Sri Shivabalayogi (1968) Online

The first completely English book on Shivabalayogi, written by Prof. S. K. Ramachandra Rao, is now online.  It was published in Bangalore in 1968.  Later that year, Shivabalayogi sat for a one-year tapas at the Bangalore ashram on Bannerghatta Road.

You can read the complete book, Sri Shivabalayogi, online and there is a text only, printer friendly version that you can download.  This excerpt from the book suggests the awe with which Shivabalayogi was regarded in those early years after he finished his twelve-year tapas:

We have heard that in ancient times Lord Krishna made Bharata-Varsha holy by his Avatar amongst the animals and inanimate on this earth, people young and old were so drawn to him that the sound of his magic flute and the touch of his divine presence would perform a miracle in them each such that they would emerge changed and chastened beings.  This was “Krishna Leela” as people termed it, while Krishna himself laid no claim to the leelas.

Believe it or not, here and now, the twentieth century has produced a Shivabalayogi who has many “Tapoleelas” to his credit but lays no claim to them.  The yogi has considered it his duty to wipe the tears of every distressed being that approaches him for succour, radiating into the suppliant a cheer and a titter leading to comfort and peace.

Spiritual Ministration Online

Shivabalayogi holding up a copy of the 1989 edition

of Spiritual Ministration, presenting it to the public

on the occasion of his 54th birthday.

The complete 1989 edition of Shivabalayogi's biography by Gen. Hanut Singh, Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Life and Spiritual Ministration, is now available online. Originally published in 1981, this was the first book on Shivabalayogi available in the West.

You can read the entire book online, with all original illustrations and appendices, or download (text only, printer-friendly) the book, all at the Spiritual Ministration pages of the Handloom website.  No charge.

The Handloom website contains many archived materials on Shivabalayogi, including free downloads of audio recordings and transcripts of conversations with Shivabalayogi; Shivabalayogi chanting om namah shivaya namaha; a booklet on Shivabalayogi, A Brief Sketch, published a few months after he completed twelve years of meditation; a booklet entitled The Lahari that was published in Bangalore in 1989 from material collected in England the previous year; a detailed article on the practice of The Practice of Dhyana Meditation;  and a summary of the great spiritual treatise, the Yoga Vasishta.