My India — Festivals

Festivals of India — Trailanga Swami Jayanti

Trailanga Swami Jayanti is a Hindu festival that commemorates the birthday of Trailanga Swami. His birth anniversary is celebrated as per Hindu lunar calendar and falls on Ekadashi Tithi in the month of Pausha during Shukla Paksha. Accordingly, 409th Birth Anniversary of Shri Trailanga Swami is celebrated on January 20, 2016.

Trailanga Swami (reportedly 1607 – December 26, 1887 CE) was a great Hindu yogi and mystic famed for his spiritual powers. For most of his life he stayed in Varanasi, India. He is regarded by devotees as an incarnation of Shiva. Swami Ramakrishna referred to him as The Walking Shiva of Varanasi. According to some accounts, he lived a very long life of around 280 years. Trailanga Swami was also known as Telang Swami and Tailang Swami.

Trailanga Swami was born in Kumbilapuram at Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. His parents, who were devotees of Lord Shiva, named him Shivarama. His father died when he was 40 years old. He renounced the society and did spiritual practice for twenty years. He reportedly led a life of severe austerities and went on a pilgrimage, reaching Prayag in 1733, before finally settling in Varanasi in 1737.

He was always carefree like a child and frequently found roaming naked on the streets or the Ganges ghats. He talked to others very less or sometime not at all. On many occasions he was seen to drink, with no ill effect, the most deadly poisons. Thousands of people, observed him floating on the Ganges for days, sitting on the surface of water or remaining hidden for long periods under the waves. It is considered that he had no body perception; he could lay very comfortably on the blistering stone slabs, wholly exposed to the merciless Indian sun.

He taught contended and controlled living. He reached that the man’s senses are his enemies if left uncontrolled. They are bad masters but can be good servants. They need to be controlled and emotions like greed, lust, gluttony, pride should not be entertained.

GoldenTwine Informatics wishes you
Happy Trailanga Swami Jayanti

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