Sivathondan Nilyaam and Treasured Natchintinai
S. Rajam
a. Families felt blessed on those rare occasions when Yogaswami handed them a spiritual poem, often composed specifically for their spiritual guidance. These were dutifully saved over the decades, and later gathered into a book called Natchintanai. b. The Sivathondan Nilayam was built under Yoga- swami’s careful guidance as a center for meditation and service, though he entered it only rarely. From here, his monthly publication, The Sivathondan, was issued, and here devotees gathered to celebrate festivals and perform puja to their guru, as they do to this day. c. Yogaswami’s writings were a rare synthesis of simplicity and profundity, truth told in its simplest and most approachable form. Many times he simply spoke or sang them, to be captured by diligent devotees who recognized the preciousness of his utterances. d. Yogaswami often took refuge in Jaffna’s Vannarpannai Siva Temple. He would sit in front of the quiet shrine of the Goddess as Thaiyalnayaki and there compose his mystic songs. He told devotees that one day while meditating there he heard Her anklet bells as She danced in the world of light. Thaiyalnayaki literally means “beautiful Goddess.”