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

79th Birthday Celebration, Jhansi

You are invited to join the celebration of Shivabalayogi's 79th birthday this Friday, January 24, 2014, as the guest of the Dhyan Trust in Jhansi.

Shivabalayogi in Hyderabad

Shivabalayogi in Sri Lanka

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).

Shivabalayogi at the pool of Sita, near Nuwara
Eliya, Sri Lanka, around 1981.

On his return from Bangalore, he continued attending our bhajan, and has told his friends from Batticaloa about Swamiji, and they wanted to have bhajan programs organized in Batticaloa as well. Maheswaran Anna invited the devotee, who will be leading this bhajan in Batticaloa, to attend our bhajan in Colombo this last Guru Poornima day (22nd of July 2013) so that he could learn the way Swamiji’s bhajan is conducted. In the mean time we made all other arrangements to have Swamiji’s bhajan in Batticaloa.

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.

Shivabalayogi offering worship to
Sri Lankadishwara Swami, May of 1981, when
he installed the Shivalinga in Nuwara Eliya.

Colombo:  Colombo Bajan Centre, 28E, 8th Lane, Colpetty, Colombo 3. Bhajan and Meditation programs are conducted on Saturdays starting at 05.00p.m. every fortnight.

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.]

Recently published newspaper article on Shivabalayogi in Tamil.

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.

Guru Purnima 2013

“Guru Purnima is the day on which Sage Vyasa was born.  Sage Vyasa was born on a full moon day.  It is in remembrance of that event that all disciples and devotees worship their own gurus on Guru Purnima.”

— Shivabalayogi

Photos of the Hyderabad ashram during Guru Purnima, Monday, July 22, 2013.  More photos can be seen on Facebook at Shivabalayogi - Greatest Yogi of His Time.  Devotees around the world celebrated Guru Purnima and there were special celebrations in Adivarapupeta and Jhansi.

There was a large Guru Purnima program at the Bangalore ashram. As every year, panchamrutha abhishekam was performed to Swamiji’s paadukas (ritual bathing of Swamiji's feet symbolized by ceremonial slippers) by all devotees in the meditation hall of the ashram in J P Nagar. After bhajans, there was a mass feeding for some three or four hundred devotees.