Pusalar lived about a thousand years ago in Tamilnadu, South India. He was one of 63 Tamil Saivite saints. These 63 saints are affectionately called nayanars. Each of the nayanars earned their sainthood by leading an examplary life of devotion to God. The story of Pusalar nayanar’s life is an inspiring one that teaches some of the essential truths and practices of Hinduism. 

Pusalar was a simple and humble man. He was a priest who attended to a small shrine in his village–Thirunindraoor. He also worked in paddy fields  for a simple wage of food and lodging, that was a simple hut by the paddy fields. He lived alone. He spent the day working in the fields until the sun became too hot to work under. After that he would spend his time singing devotional hyms to God and in meditation under his favourite illupai tree by the padi fields. People rarely visited him. He would usually be in his hut by himself except for the occasional trip to the village township to buy some supplies. 

On one such visit to the village, he was surprised to see a large gathering of villagers. Pusalar asked a villager what was happening. It seems the people were gathered around a messenger from their King. Thirunindaroor was within the Kingdom of Kanchipuram. A thousand years ago Kanchipuram was the capital of the Pallava Kingdom of South India. During Pusalar's time the King was Raja Simha Pallava. 

The messenger who had rested from his trip from Kanchipuram (about 30km away) started to beat the drum that was strapped around his shoulder. He used the drum to attract the attention of the villagers and started to walk to the village gathering place, which was under a big banyan tree. The crowd gathered around the messenger followed him and more villagers joined in after hearing the drum. They were all curious about what the messenger had to say. Pusalar too followed him. When he reached the tree, he started to announce out loudly his message. He started, "O villagers of Thirunindraoor come and hear this good news. Our majesty King Raja Simha Pallava has started building a new temple for our beloved Lord Sivan. The King requests all familes in Thirunindraoor to set aside one handful of rice everday, to feed the workers building the temple. The King will send a bullock cart every week to collect the rice. Come all good villagers of Tirunindraoor, join in this meritorious act with your King and build a great temple to Lord Sivan."  The messenger kept repeating his message until dusk so all the villagers would hear the message.

Pusalar too was excited and happy about a new temple close his village. Kancipuram is about 30kms from Thirunindraoor. It would only take a day and a half to walk to Kanchipuram. In those days this was a relatively short time.

After finishing his work in the village, Pusalar headed home, to his hut. As he was walking feelings of disappointment slowly crept in. All that excitement about building a temple made him reflect on his lack of material wealth. Pusalar was a very simple and innocent person. He thought if only he was rich like the King he too could build a temple for God, but alas he was poor. He only had enough money to supply his simple daily needs. He began to feel sad that he lacked the resources to build a temple for God Shiva.

Then, an idea came to him. True, he could not physically build a temple because he did not have the money, but Pusalar loved God dearly. He was determined to build a temple for God despite his lack of wealth. So Pusalar decided that instead of a physical temple, he would build a spiritual temple for God with his love. The spiritual temple would be in his heart. Thus Pusalar began in all seriousness the construction of a spiritual temple in his heart that very day. 

Puslar was very meticulous about his temple construction. To him it was no different than building a physical temple. He followed the progress of the King’s stone temple closely, even walking all the way to Kanchipuram a few times a month to observe the progress of the King's temple, and did exactly the same for his spiritual temple. When they erected a pillar in the King’s temple, Pusalar too erected a pillar in the temple of his heart. When the temple bell was placed in the King’s temple, the bell also went up in Pusalar’s temple. Like this it went on for a few years until finally both temples were nearing completion. 

Before a new temple is opened to the public for worship, an opening ceremony must be done. This opening ceremony is very elaborate and involves many priests. The last day of this ceremony is considered the most auspicious day. It is known as the maha kumbha abishegam. Hindu Scriptures encourage devotees to attend as many maha kumbha abishegams as they can. This is because on this day God’s blessings from the heavens is most intense. It is said the blessings on this day can relieve devotees from some of their bad karmas. 

Thus an auspicious date was set for the maha kumbha abishegam of the King’s temple. As the maha kumbha abhishegam of the King's temple drew closer, thousands of devotees from neighbouring villages and towns had gathered in Kanchipuram eagerly anticipating the maha kumbha abishegam. Pusalar too, in following the progress of the King’s temple set the same date for the maha kumbha abishegam of the spiritual temple in his heart. However Pusalar being so absorbed in the construction of his own temple remained in his village.

It was a few nights before the maha kumbha abishegam. As the King slept God Shiva appeared in his dream. The King was overjoyed to be in God’s presence. Then God Shiva commanded to the King: 

“O Raja Simhan! I am very pleased with the new temple you have built for me. But you must postpone the maha kumbha abishegam of your temple. I have to attend to a maha kumbha abishegam on the same day for another temple in your Kingdom. It is built by one of My great devotees, Pusalar. I will attend the maha kumbha abishegam of your temple another day.” Then God Shiva disappeared and the King woke up with a start.

The King could not sleep after that. He was restless and had mixed feelings. He was happy to have been granted darshan by God in his dream but also sad and upset that he has to postpone the maha kumbha abishegam of his temple. The next morning he immediately ordered the temple ceremonies to be postponed to another day to be determined by the King's priest. All the King’s ministers, the priests and the rest of the villagers were shocked by his order. They could see the King was upset. 

Then the King asked all the ministers in his court: 

“Does anyone know who Pusalar is?!”

None of the ministers knew. They all shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads and looked at each other. Then the King, visibly more upset, asked again angrily: 

“Does anyone know where to find Pusalar?!  I know he is building a temple in my Kingdom without my permission! Where is he?!”

Everybody in the court stared at each other with a blank face. None of the King’s ministers knew who Pusalar was, let alone where he lived. Then one of the elder palace guards came forward nervously. He begged forgiveness from the King and said:

“O Great King! I know a Pusalar who lives in Thirunindraoor. He is a poor priest who lives in a hut and takes care of paddy fields, but I don't think he can afford to build a temple.”

On hearing this the King immediately ordered the old palace guard to take a few of his personal guards to bring Pusalar to the palace. They left Kanchipuram with shackles to arrest Pusalar and bring him to Kanchipuram.

It was the next day, late afternoon, that the guards reached Pusalar's hut. They knocked the door to the hut. “Pusalar! Pusalar! Come out!” The elderly palace guard called out to Pusalar. But there was no answer. Soon they realized that Pusalar was not in his hut.  They searched for him around the hut and they found him meditating under his favourite, illupai tree by the padi fields. As was custom the guards knew not to disturb a person in meditation. So the guards just sat near him waiting for Pusalar to finish his meditation. While they were waiting the guards felt very peaceful and all their veriness from their long walk from Kanchipuram disappeared. They felt calm and invigorated. The guards realized that they were sitting next to a holy person. 

In his meditation, Pusalar was concentrated in the preparations for the maha kumbha abhishegam of God's temple in his heart. For the past few weeks Pusalar had been spending more time meditating as there was much work to do to complete the temple and get it ready for the maha kumbha abishegam. When he finally finsihed all the work for the day in his temple, he opened his eyes. It was dusk, the sun was setting. Pusalar was surprised to see the men sitting near him with armaments. 

Pusalar asked, "Friends, who are you all and why are you sitting here?" The guards immediately stood up in respect to Pusalar and humbly replied, "respected sir we are the King's guards from Kanchipuram. The King has requested to see you in his court. We have come to take you with us to Kanchipuram."

Pusalar was puzzled, why would the King want to see him at all? Wouldn't he be busy with the preparations for the maha kumbha abhishegam of the temple in Kanchipuram? Pusalar thought deeply as he knew that if the King gives an instruction it must be obeyed. However Pusalar was too committed to the temple he was building to be afraid of the consequence of disobeying the King. 

So he told the guards, "My friends I am sorry but I cannot come with you today. I have some very important work. It will finish next week. Respected sirs please tell His Highness that when my work is finished I will come to Kanchipuram and seek his audience." 

The guards usually never accept such an answer. They would have put him in their shackles that they had brought along and taken him to Kanchipuram by force. However with Pusalar they felt compelled by some supernatural force to take his reply to the King, despite the possibility of getting in trouble with the King. Thus the guards left Pusalar with much hesitation and made their way to Kanchipuram.

Pusalar wondered why the King wanted to see him. Pusalar had never met the King before and he had never held any position in the palace. He was just a simple villager and a regular citizen of the Pallava Kingdom. The whole situation concerned him for a while, especially since the guards came with shackles, but he had too much work to do within himself to prepare for the maha kumbha abishegam so he just as soon brushed aside the concern and continued with his sadhana of temple building.

The King was understandably upset with his guards when they reached him without Pusalar in tow. He asked, "Did you not find Pusalar?!" The old guard, with much trepidition addressed the King, "Your Highness, please forgive us. We did find Pusalar but he was in deep meditation when we found him. We asked him to come with us here after his dhyanam, but he said that he had too much work to do. We looked around but we did not find any temple in construction near him. He said that he will come and see you in a week after he finished his work."

The King, red with anger, shouted at the guards, "Who is your King, Pusalar or I." He was ready to give orders to send the guards to the prison when the King's chief minister intervened. He asked the King, "My lord, what is happening? Please tell us how do you know of this Pusalar and why you have moved the maha kumbha abishegam to another day? We are also unhappy and worried about this." 

Raja Simha Pallava, regained his composure and told his court about the dream of God Shiva that he had a few nights before. As the King was telling of his dream he remembered that God told him that Pusalar was among his greatest devotees. Then he thought perhaps what his guard did was right. Perhaps Pusalar was a great jnani, a spiritual master. It would have been bad karma for the King if the guards followed his orders and forced Pusalar to come to Kanchipuram shackled. Immediately he forgave his guards and told them to get his chariot ready. The Pallava King wanted to go and see Pusalar. 

The next morning the King and his entourage, that consisted of his Queen and ministers were on chariots, made their way to Thirunindraoor. The guards led the royal parade to where Pusalar was, under the illupai tree. Pusalar was too deeply engrossed in his meditation of temple construction that he was oblivious of the royal assembly infront of him. The King stopped his guards from distrubing Pusalar and instead ordered them to put up the tents. Later in the evening after Pusalar wound down his work in the holy temple of his heart, the sight that greeted him was a big surprise. His King and Queen were seated infront of him. Pusalar was in such disbelief with the situation around him that he immediately stood up with folded hands in a gesture of humility and immediately begged the King for forgiveness if he was in anyway disrespectful. Raja Simha realising that he was in the presence of a spiritual person, humbly told Pusalar to be seated, and that he wanted to disscuss an important matter with Pusalar.

The King asked Pusalar, “Are you building a temple in my Kingdom?”

Pusalar is taken aback by the King’s question. Pusalar wonders to himself, how could the King know he was building a temple? He had certainly not told anyone. Nobody could know. Anyway Pusalar answers, “No, Your Highness, I am not building a temple. As you can see I am a poor man. I do not even own the hut I live in. I certainly do not have the money to build a temple as you are building in our village.”

The King countered, "What do you mean you are not building the temple as I am building? Please tell me the truth!” Pusalar is perplexed. “Is the King psychic? Could he read my mind?” Pusalar thought to himself. Pusalar answers apprehensively, “I am sorry Your Highness. I just don't know if you will believe me. It  is true that I am building a temple, but not the way you think.” Then Pusalar asks the King, “Your Highness, how did you find out about the temple I am building?”

The King visibly perturbed by Pusalar's reply, retorts, “then it is true that you are building a temple!" The King's ego took over and now anger showed on his face. The King in a harsh tone continued, "how dare you build a temple in my Kingdom without my permission! Tell me where it is! I want to see it!”

Pusalar now looked confused. How is he going to show the King the temple in his heart? Instead, Pusalar asks the King again, “Your Highness, please tell me, how do you know about my temple? Nobody else knows about my temple.”

The King growing impatient replies furiously, “It was Lord Siva Himself who told me about your temple!” Then the King told Pusalar about the dream he had. That God had instructed him to postpone the maha kumbha abishegam of his temple to another day because he had to attend to Pusalar’s temple first.

Pusalar could not contain his tears. He was overwhelmed by amazement and joy. Then Pusalar explained to the King, “Your Highness, it is indeed true that I am building a temple. However it is not in any place in your Kingdom or any other village. It is actually in my heart. I was building a spiritual temple in my heart.” 

Raja Simha was taken aback by Pusalar’s revelation. Pusalar continues, “When I heard that Your Highness was building a temple, I wished that I too could build a temple for our beloved Lord. But I have neither money nor land. So I decided to build a temple in my heart with my mind and the bhakti in my heart. I built my temple exactly like the temple you are building and set the same date for the maha kumbha abishegam of my temple. I never thought that my humble temple would be so entertained by our Great Lord that He would ask Your Highness to postpone the maha kumbha abishegam of your beautiful temple. Please forgive me Your Highness.”

As soon as Puslar had finished his explanation, the King and his entourage were dazzled by a miraculous a psychic vision of the temple that Pusalar was building. The crowd under the illupai tree were lost for words for sometime as they all reflected on the amazing revelations before them. Then the King made a decision to stay with Pusalar until the day of the maha kumbha abishegam of Pusalar's temple. His Queen and the rest of his entourage too stayed on.

On the day of the maha kumbha abishegem Pusalar had woken up before sunrise and prepared himself for the big day. He bathe, donned clean clothes and made for the special tent that the King ordered to be erected under the illupai tree for Pusalar. Then he sat down in the meditative pose, padmasana, closed his eyes and  visualized the maha kumbha abishegam being performed for his spiritual temple. The King, Queen, all the ministers of the Pallava Kingdom and the villagers of Thirunindraoor sat around Pusalar under his favourite tree. As Pusalar constructed his thoughts and visualizations with his mind's eye, of the maha kumbha abishegam of his temple, by the power of Provedence, all those around Pusalar were granted the psychic ability to follow and feel, Pusalar's spiritual vision and sublime feelings.

The climax of the maha kumbha abishegam for any temple is when the priests ascend to the top of the temple towers, the vimanam and the gopurams, and pour sanctified water from the the kumbhas over the towers. Devotees will crowd around the temple towers at this time to be splashed by this water as it flows down the tower.

In Pusalar’s temple, he imagines himself standing on a raised platform on the tower of his spiritual temple. Then with all the love for God and joy in his heart he pours the imagined sanctified water over the temple tower. This is the high point that he has been eagerly waiting for. Many months of disciplined mental effort had reached its climax. A great joy wells up in Pusalar’s heart. Then, he feels a powerful energy enter his heart as if from nowhere. He begins to feel as if he is floating. He feels inspired and thrilled with this new sensation. He loses consciousness of his body. Pusalar feels as if his mind has been transported into another world. The temple that he had imagined in his heart for so long disappeared into a very bright white light. Pusalar loses himself in the warm loving feeling and peace that he experiences emanating from this light.

Then suddenly a face appears through this light. It is the most perfect face Pusalar had ever seen. So beautiful, with luminous golden skin and eyes that seem to contain the entire universe. It was neither the face of a man nor a woman. Just the most perfect and beautiful face he had ever seen. Puslar knows from the bottom of his heart that he is seeing the face of God Shiva himself. Pusalar is overjoyed. He had been graced by the darshan of God. God had revealed himself to Pusalar.

The smiling and beautiful face of God slowly disappears into the light and Pusalar begins to feel his body again. The light fills Pusalar’s body from head to toe making him feel strong and very much alive. Then the light slowly fades away as if being absorbed by every cell in his body and he is left with content feeling of spiritual bliss. Pusalar sits oblivious of time enjoying this spiritual bliss.

When Pusalar returns back to his normal consciousness, Raja Simha who experienced some of what Pusalar had experienced declares Pusalar a saint to the approval of all present. He invites Pusalar to Kanchipuram to officiate the maha kumbha abishegam of Kanchipuram's new Sivan Temple. As is tradition the King falls prostrate infront of Pusalar to get his blessings. However Pusalar not used to such honours stepped back and helped the King back on his feet. Then Pusalar told the king, “Your Highness, please, I am but a simple person. It is I who am imdebted to you. You have given me good news. Now I know that God Shiva has trully Graced the temple in my heart. That the experience I had of seeing God’s Graceful Face after I finished the maha kumbha abishegam in my heart was a real experience and not my imagination.”

On another auspicious date soon after Pusalar's temple consecration the much awaited maha kumbha abishegam of the King’s temple was performed. Pusalar was given a seat of honour befitting a spiritual leader during the ceremony.

After that Pusalar insisted he continue his simple life, giving up the luxuries of the palace that the King had offered him. Villagers would visit Pusalar to seek his blessings and to learn about worshipping God within themselves.

After Pusalar's passing a temple was erected around the illupai tree Pusalar frequented for his meditations. The name of this temple is Arulmigu Maragatambikai Aalayam. The name of the Shivalingam in this temple is Hiruthayalingeswarar. Iruthayam means heart in Tamil. So the Shivalingam’s name means Shivalingam of the heart, to comemorate the life of Pusalar. Today devotees frequent the temple, especially to pray for a cure for their heart ailments. To get to Tirunindraoor, you can take a taxi from Chennai. The town is about 29km from Chennai. Alternately you can take the electric train from Chennai Sentral to Tirunindraoor. In Tirunindraoor, ask to be taken to Maragatambikai temple. 

The temple that Raja Simha Pallava built is the majestic Kailasanathar temple in Kanchipuram. Every corner of this temple is intricately carved. The temple is set in very quiet surroundings amidst the bustling Kanchipuram town, that is famous for its temples and textile industry. This temple is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

Pusalar’s devotion inspiring story presents some of the core truths of Hinduism. Children also find this story exciting and easy to grasp. Once I asked a five year old what she learned from this story, she replied, “God is in my heart.” It was that simple  and shows how one of the most essential Hindu belief can easily be conveyed. That God Almighty, our Creator, is within us. That the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. God and Heaven are not in some distant out of reach place. 

Children learn about God from their parents. Parents are everything to a child, being totally dependent on them physically, mentally and emotionally especially before adolescence. When children see their parents praying to God at home or in a temple, it naturally teaches the child of the existence of a greater yet invisible being whom everybody depends on. Thus a child learns through observation. However children must be taught about the existence of God within them through stories like Pusalar’s.

Knowing that God is within us is a core belief of Hinduism. Every Hindu spiritual leader will emphasize and affirm this to their disciples. My guru, the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami would always remind me that, “God is closer to you than your breath.” He would urge to seek for God ‘within.’ ‘God is the Life of our life,’ is another famous Hindu phrase by Saint Tirumular. That God is close to us, very intimate with us, is the first and most essential truth we must grasp in learning or teaching Hinduism. 

Inculcating the truth that God is within them will keep children secure by knowing that they always have a Protector with them. It also reminds them that God is witness to their most intimate thoughts and actions, that there are no secrets between them and God. This will help children do their best in holding on to morals and values of life.

Another obvious lesson from Pusalar’s story is that God can hear our prayers to Him when we pray with love or devotion. It also shows that God values the true spirit of devotion more than an external show of devotion. In this story God chose to entertain Pusalar’s temple first, though Pusalar was the only devotee of his temple of the heart. God did not ignore the King’s temple, but it does show where God’s priorities are. A bigger, more eleborate or more expensive ceremony or building is no guarantee of God’s blessings nor of merit, unless of course it is motivated by sincere love for God. Even the simplest prayer, the simplest ceremony done with utmost devotion draws God’s greatest attention and blessings. This is the key to effective prayer.

This story also shows that God places more importance to devotion rather than status in society. The King obviously has greater wealth, learning and power than Pusalar. However Pusalar commanded more of God’s attention because because of the sincerity of his devotion. For the King’s part, he was not necessarily a lesser devotee. After all God did come in his dream. However his motivation to build the temple was not purely out of devotion only, but also as a show of his status and to gain popularity among his subjects. 

So teach children sincere devotion. What is sincere devotion? That is to love God for love’s sake, instead of loving God for purely material needs only. Sincere devotion to God is real power and a protective force. Teach children that God can hear their prayers if they pray with their hearts filled with devotion and that they can pray to God anytime and anywhere. This will equip children with the strength to go through the trials and tribulations they may face in life in the present or in the future whence they are adults. 

Finally another lesson that Pusalar’s story brings out, is that God can communicate with or reveal Himself to His devotees directly. In this story the King experienced God through his dream, while Pusalar saw God’s Graceful face in meditation.

To experience God is the ultimate goal of life for Hindus. Hindu scriptures and spiritual gurus constantly urge devotees to seek for God within themselves. That is to experience God personally. It is considered the greatest of  desires to desire to see God or to realize God. Thus in Hinduism, the ultimate achievement of life is to know God from personal experience. This experience makes the devotee spiritually enlightened.