Awakening of Spiritual Inclinations
Right from early childhood THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was drawn to spirituality and as we saw earlier he spent as much time as he could with idols; he interacted with them as if these idols were living beings, which to him they certainly were; and as we saw earlier they responded to him in turn. He had a deep and abiding passion to play with idols of gods and goddesses, decorating them, worshipping them, talking to them, and relating to them as if they were made of flesh and blood. These were his only joy; he never participated in sports and games normal to boys of his age.
Parasakti works in mysterious ways to help enlightened beings fulfill their mission
During the Ganesa Chaturthi (birthday of Lord Ganapati) period potters would come to Tiruvannamalai town with large amounts of clay to make their idols of Ganapati. Each house would usually have an idol installed in their puja room (altar) and people of that household would offer ritual prayers to the Ganapati idol. On the festival day special food would be prepared ostensibly to be offered to God. Ganapati's favorite food is the modakam or as it is called in Tamil kozhakottai, a rice dumpling filled with jaggery. In addition there were special, fruits and flowers that Ganapati liked. After all the fat bellied Ganapati sitting on his mouse vehicle is the darling of all Hindus.
Depending upon local tradition on the third or fi fth day a fter the festival day, Ganapati's idol would be taken to be immersed in a water spot, an environmentally friendly practice as long as the idol was made out of mud which is water soluble. In large cities like Mumbai this immersion takes the form of massive processions to the sea, which blocks traffic for hours. In smaller towns such as Tiruvannamalai the idols would be carried by individuals on their heads or if they are better to do in vehicular transportation and then immersed in the temple tank or if there was one, a near by river or lake. Ganesa Chaturthi or Pillayar Chaturthi as it is invariably termed in Tamilnadu is a major festive occasion.
Potters brought in large quantities of clay for making the idols on the spot. They would leave behind unused material that they could not convert and sell, once the festival period was over and there was no further demand for the earthen idols of Ganapati. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM would rush around in his tricycle collecting all this material so that he could fashion his own idols out of this unused clay. Even at this early age his commercial sense was well developed.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM says: Parasakti prepared my body and mind so beautifully for the mission she had in mind for me. You can see her play, her lila. Day after day, I would spend entire days only in decorating and talking to the idols. I had energy and power far beyond my years. My mother said that once I turned around a heavy teak wood bed with a person lying on it without much effort.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was completely independent and fearless. His mother and rest of the family used to listen to what he had to say rather than the other way around. His sharp logic and compassionate love attracted people to him and made them want to do what he told them to.