Recently I visited the Jeeva Samadhi temple of Sadhu Chidambaram Swami, who is also known as "Valla Naattaar". A Jeeva Samadhi is when a saint or siddha is burried in samadhi while still living. Such locations are spiritually very powerful, as the saint continues to interact with devotees through his samadhi. I would like to narrate a few stories of this little known saint of South India, who entered Jeeva Samadhi in recent times.

"Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanarada district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanarada province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi.

"Sri Ramanuja Acarya appeared around 1017 A.D in a pious brahmana family. He became the formost Acarya in the Sri Sampradaya and was reputed to be the incarnation of Laksmana, the younger brother of Lord Ramacandra.

Arakkhita Das occupies a unique place in Orissa"s rich tradition of saint-poets. He was born into the ruling family of the big zamindari (estates) of Badakhemundi in Ganjam district of coastal Orissa towards the end of the 18th century. Various sources place his year of birth between 1780 and 1788, more likely towards the later date. He grew up in tumultuous times, when the British were finally gaining ascendancy in Orissa; and perhaps his renunciation from his privileged context took place at about the same time as the British conquest of Orissa in 1803.

"The Sage of Kanchi" is a biographical documentary in English on the life of Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, the 68th Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. It takes you on a spiritual journey and portrays the life and times of the Maha Periyaval of Kanchi, referred to as Paramacharya by his disciples and followers.

The Fire Yogi is a 47 minute documentary exploring a Yogi who has the extraordinary ability to use a unique breathing technique to get into union with Fire. The yogi creates a sacred fire and actually lies in the fire, but remains unharmed by the flames. This documentary portrays the rare and unusual Fire Ritual performed by the Yogi and the subsequent chemical analysis of his clothing & physical tests that examine this supernatural phenomenon. Many aspects of the Yogi are on the edge of unbelievability, while at the same time highlighting the power and endurance of human mind, body and spirit.

Devraha Baba was a siddha who lived for over 250 years, before entering samadhi in 1989. So elderly was he that the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, more than fifty years ago, said that his father had sat at the feet of Devraha Baba as a child - that is, in the middle of the nineteenth century - and Devraha Baba was already elderly at that time. Devraha Baba never took food, and never set foot on the ground. He lived in a unique hut that was raised off the ground by bamboo poles. This rare video footage was recorded for a russian television channel around 1987-1989, so it is not in English.

This is a video of Devraha Hans Baba at the 2001 Kumbha Mela. Devraha Hans Baba is the successor to Devraha Baba. The original Devraha Baba lived for over 250 years and entered samadhi in 1989. So elderly was he that the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, more than fifty years ago, said that his father had sat at the feet of Devraha Baba as a child - that is, in the middle of the nineteenth century - and Devraha Baba was already elderly at that time. This video is of his successor, Devraha Hans Baba.

Tailanga [also called Trailanga] Swami is spoken of with reverence, awe and almost with fear in the city of Benaras. As we ask for directions to his temple, the people we speak to display all three emotions. Who was Tailanga Swami? Was he really superhuman or an incarnation of Lord Vishwanath (Shiva) as they claim? The sceptic in us perks up for the first time.

He was spoken of as belonging to the saints of the highest order by spiritually acclaimed people and other saints who came to seek His darshan. As a playful child, spirituality was unknown to me but in my little mind was instilled the fact that He was a Godly figure by my parents and elders of the family. Little did I realize the greatness of this spiritual giant Kodi Swami who spent the last thirty years of His life at our residence, Puravipalayam, a small village near Pollachi in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu.

It was the fag end of 1969. On my way from Tiruvannamalai to Vellore, I stopped at Polur to have darshan at the samadhi of Saint Vitthoba. We met Duraiswami Swamigal at the mutt who introduced me to a Mr. R. Pargunam. The latter’s father had been a contemporary and devotee of Vitthoba and had had a close association with the saint. Pargunam narrated certain incidents he had heard from his father about Vitthoba’s life. Before I took leave of him, I asked him if he had known any living siddha...

According to Vedic scripture, the mere sight of a yogi saint is sufficient to transform an individual's life from the pursuit of mundane pleasures to the pursuit of wisdom and god-realization. My personal experience bears truth to this statement. I was profoundly influenced by the sight of Sri Tat Wale Baba, and my brief two hours' encounter with him. Sri Tat Wale Baba was the living embodiment of the Vedas.

Swami Trailanga, who was reputed to be nearly three hundred years old when he died, is so renown in India on such a widespread basis, that few Hindus would deny the possibility of truth in any story related to his astounding miracles. If Jesus returned to earth and walked the streets of New York, displaying his divine powers, it would cause the same awe among the people that Trailanga created decades ago as he passed through the crowded lanes of Benares. He was one of the siddhas (perfected beings) that have cemented India against the erosions of time.