Sri Sadhasiva Brahmam

Adhishtanam 

India is considered as God' s own Kingdom not just because it is the land of thousands of temples Holy Rivers and Mountains but because of the Great Sages and Saints who brought forward the sanctity to the entire World by their scriptures, commentaries,visits which protect the nation even now. 

Thiruvisanallur

Kumbakonam,a temple town in Tamil nadu had witnessed the emergence of Great Saints . Sri Bodhendra saraswathi ,  then Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sridhara Ayyaval of Thiruvisanallur and Sathguru Sadasiva Bramendra were contemporaries who stayed in that region and contributed to Bhakthi movement.

Sri Sadasiva was born in Madurai to a Telugu couple ,Moksha Somasundara Avadhani and Parvathi. His parents were childless for sometime and they prayed to Sri Ramanatha Swami of Rameswaram Temple and their prayer was answered. They named the child as Siva Rama Krishna.  When the family moved to Thiruvisainallur near Kumbakonam, Sri Sridhara Ayyaval was the classmate of Sivaramakrishna in the Veda Patasala. He was married at the age of 17  but the desire to join a Guru was deep inside his heart.

Thiruvenkadu

Suddenly he left his house and went to Thiruvenkadu where he met Sri Parama Sivendra saraswathi, the Kanchi Acharya. He composed many poetic works on his Guru ," Navamani mala',"Guru Rathna Malika",to name a few. He took Sanyas under the guidance of his Guru. As he was highly knowledgeable,he conquered many scholars. They got irritated and complained to the Acharya. The Acharya called Sadasiva ,(as he was known at that time) and asked him whether he could shut his mouth instead of arguing with others.Sri Sadasiva remained silent from that day onwards throughout his life. Subsequently,  Sri Parama Sivendra Saraswathi attained Samadhi at Thiruvenkadu.

Then he started wandering from place to place as a Digambara. He rarely met people as he was moving much away from the towns and villages ,more particularly in mountains and jungles. so that no one could notice him and disturb his meditation. He is said to have met  Thayumanavar,the poet-saint in the presence of Ragunatha Raya Thondaiman ,the Raja of Pudukottai in 1738 A.D.

Sri Sadasiva Bramendra,the author of many books on Advaitha Philosophy met Sridhara Ayyaval again when the later requested him to break his silence at the time of composing songs in praise of The Lord. Sri Sadasiva Bramenrda started composing many songs of which only 33 krithis are available.

He possessed great powers due to which he could perform miracles. Some children playing in the sands of River Cauvery at Mahadhanapuram wanted to see Madurai, he asked them to close their eyes for a moment. When they opened their eyes they found that they were in Madurai!

Once he was meditating near a heap of paddy. On seeing this, the farmer who owned the paddy field started hitting him with a stick. When Sadasiva Bramendra saw the farmer in a confronting mood, he made him to become a statue. On the next morning the Gurunatha saw the statue and smiled and gave life to the wrong doer. The farmer realised his mistake and sought to forgive him.

Without bothering the flash floods in Cauvery, the Guru was sitting near the sands of the river,deeply meditating. Soon he was covered with a hump of sand and carried away. The villagers tried to trace him by removing the accumulated sand.The shovel hit the Saint but he came out and walked away as if nothing had happened.

After hearing the greatness of the Saint, Sri Vijaya Raghunatha Thondaiman, the Raja of Pudukottai met the Saint at Sivagnanapuram near Avudayar Koil in 1738 A.D.and sought His blessings. Sri Sadasiva Bramendra wrote the Moola mantra of Sri Dakshinamurthi on the sands. The ruler collected the sand on which the mantra was written and took it for worship at his palace in Pudukottai. It is still preserved in the palace and open for public on Thursdays. 

Once he entered into the Palace of a Nawab without notice. The Nawab ordered his servants to chop off the hands of the saint. When the order was obeyed, the Saint was walking freely as if nothing had happened to him . The Nawab took the chopped hands and placed them in front of the saint and pleaded pardon. To the surprise of all, the hands rejoined the saint in the original position and he walked away.

Once he took pity to an illiterate dumb boy and blessed him to gain speech. The boy instantly gained the power to speak and he was known as Akasa Purana Ramalinga Sastry whose relatives were living in Nerur until the last century.

He did penance at Gokarneswara Swami Temple,Pudukottai, Sri Kamakshi Temple and Devadhanampatti. He was instrumental in installing the Deity at Punnainallur near Thanjavur. He installed the murthi of Hanuman in Srinivasa Perumal temple at Nalu kadai veedhi, Thanjavur. He also installed Ganesa Yantra at Thirunageswaram near Kumbakonam and Jana Akarshana Yantra at Thanthonri Malai near Karur and Sri Chakra at Madhurakali amman temple,Siruvachur. His Padhukas are preserved at Sri Achala Dheepeswara Swami Temple at Mohanur. 

He left for Nerur,near Karur on the banks of south flowing river Cauvery ,considered on par with Kashi and Ganga. He found the place suitable to carry out meditation in the way he wanted. He attained Maha Samadhi  in 1755 A.D. on a Vaishaka Sukla Dasami day when the star was Makha(m) . As per his wish, a Bilva sapling was planted above his samadhi. It has grown  tall now where the Annual Aradhana is held. He is said to have attained Samadhi at Mana Madurai also.

About the Holy Bilwa Tree

During His visit to Trichy,Sri Sachithananda Narasimha Bharathi ,then Pontiff of Sri Sringeri Mutt felt that his palanquin was dragged by some external force. Upon meditating at that place for three days,He took yathra towards Nerur and reached Sadasiva Bramenral's Adhishtanam. He composed two Hymns on Sri  Sadasiva Brahmam. 

Aradhana

Nerur takes a festive look on the Aradhana day. People from different parts of the state assemble at about 8 A.M to witness the Abhishekam and Aradhana at the Samadhi. The Adhishtanam is inside Kashi Viswanatha Temple. The Samadhi is seen right behind the Sanctum in the outer prakaram of the Temple. Abhishekam is performed at the Bilwa tree where the Saint had attained Sidhi. Deepaaradhana & Archana are held and a portrait of  Sri Sadasiva Brahmam is taken to a Mutt where bhajans are sung. 

Veda Parayanam at the Adhishtanam

Nerur is located about 10 km from Karur . Bus facility is there from Karur bus station. For boarding and lodging, Karur is a good place. One should not miss visiting Sri Pasupatheeswara Swami Temple at Karur which is sung by Thirugnanasambandhar. Venjamakkoodal is another Shrine,sung by Sundarar which is located around 20 km from Karur. Kulithalai(Kadambar koil),Eengoimalai, Vatpokki(Iyer Malai) , Thirupparaithurai are nearby places where Temples sung in Thevaram are located.