Kumaraguruparar Swamigal

June 27, 2010

Kumaraguruparar Swamigal

A commemorative postage stamp on Kumaragurupara Desikar, a poet and Saivite ascetic connected with Dharmapuram Adheenam (Kodumudi Magudeswara temple), Mayiladuthurai :

Issued by India

Issued on Jun 27, 2010

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Kumaraguruparar Swamigal.

Credits :
Stamp, FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Kumaragurupara Desikar

Born on 1625 at Srivaikuntam, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India

Died on 1688 at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

About :

Kumaraguruparar Swamigal was born in 1625 at Srivaikuntam near Tiruchendur. Legend has it that Kumaguruparar was deaf and dumb till his fifth year. His distressed parents took him to the Sri Subramanya Swamy Temple at Tiruchendur where by the grace of Lord Muruga, the disability disappeared. From that moment he lisped in numbers which came to him by divine grace and he became a devotee of Lord Subramanya. He came to be known as Kumaraguruparar.
He learned classical Tamil from his father. From his youth, scorning worldly ways, he took to an abstemious and austere mode of life, and leaving home he wandered in the Tamil country visiting famous places of pilgrimage, worshipping and composing timeless Tamil poems in praise of the deities.
Initiated as a sanyasi by his guru Masilamani Desigar, the Head of the Dharmapuram Math Kumaraguruparar Swamigal undertook pilgrimages to several all important pilgrim centres including Varanasi. Overwhelmed by the ever growing and radiating spiritual and cultural influence and impact of Kumaraguruparar, Emperor Aurangzeb, the then Mogul ruler, expressed a desire to see him. Legend has it that he went to see the Emperor riding on a lion, symbolic of courage and pride. According to contemporary accounts, Aurangzeb was greatly impressed with Kumaraguruparar Swamigal‘s self-effacing holiness and learning and treated him with great respect. Swamigal was also successful in persuading the Emperor to allot a piece of land near the Kedar Ghat where he built a Math which came to be known as Kumaraswamy Matham which he organized on a sound basis, delivering lectures there in Tamil & Hindi on wide and encyclopedic themes covering religion, philosophy and literature.
He also built a temple and re-consecrated the Visweswara Lingam of the Kedar Ghat. He lived in Varanasi till his death in 1688.
Dr. Murugesan, who has studied the life and writings of Kumaraguruparar Swamigal states that his first utterance was ‘Kandar Kalivenba‘ an invocation in 244 lines to Lord Muruga which is recited even today by Tamil devotees.
His Neethineri Vilakkam, an ethical poem in 100 stanzas, is a classic containing pithy sayings. According to Dr. Murugesan, 25 of these are devoted to ethical values rooted in the traditional concept of education which are relevant even today.
According to Dr. Murugesan “Unique is the place that Kumaraguruparar Swamigal occupies in the religious, literary and educational history of India“.
Text : Based on the material downloaded from the internet.