The Yoga Siddha Research Centre, Chennai - 600083

Address: "Rajkamal," 45 (21), IV Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai - 600 083
Phone: 044-5202 9150 / 044- 2489 7396 " Email: tngana@yahoo.com

Sponsored by Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, USA, Inc.,
196, Mountain Road, P.O. Box: 90, Eastman, Quebec, Canada JOE 1 PO

Director: Professor T.N. Ganapathy Deputy Director: Dr. KR. Arumugam

1. Dr. R. Balasubramanian (Chairman)
2. Dr. T.B. Siddhalingaiah
3. Dr. Prema Nandakumar
4. Dr. T.N. Ramachandran
5. Sri T.V. Venkataraman (IAS., Retd.)
6. Sri Azariah
7. Sri G, Ramanathan
8. Sri S.K Venkataraman
9. Sri Sriram Chandrasekar
10. Dr. KR. Arumugam (Secretary)
11. Dr. T.N. Ganapathy (Convenor & Co-Chairman)

Sponsor's Names:

1. Sri Govindan Satchidananda (President, BKYOA)
2. Smt Durga Ahlund (Acharya, BKYOA)
3. Manuel Masche (Secretary, BKYOA's Trust)

P.B. No. 5608, 52, "Cement Villa",
I Floor, 5th Main, 18th Cross,
Malleswaram West,
Bangalore - 560 055
Ph: 9845256731 080-51280812

Dr. K.R. Arumugam,
Dr. Siddhalingaiah,
Dr. T.N. Ganapathy

Sri Sriram Chandrasekar,
Dr. T.N. Ganapathy,
Dr. R. Balasubramaniam

Sri T.V. Venkataraman,
Dr. Suddhaseshaiyan,
Dr. Ganapathy

Smt. Smitha Despande,
Dr. Prema Nandakumar

Dr. Arumugam and
Sri. Neelakantan

The Yoga Siddha Research Project has been sponsored jointly by Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas Inc., Canada and Yoga Research and Education Centre, Inc. California, USA since 2000. The aim of the project is to undertake on a grand scale to locate all the unpublished texts by the Tamil Yoga Siddhas and publish them with critical annotations. Till now no serious study has been made about the Tamil Siddhas in a systematic and scientific way. No serious attempt has been made to work on or translate the Tamil Siddha poems. The Tamil Yoga Siddha Research Project proposes to fill this long-felt gap. The purpose of this project is to identify and preserve in computer accessible format all of the manuscripts of the Tamil Siddhas related to yoga in the various libraries and private collections.

This project had its origins nearly 50 years ago, Kriya Babaji Nagaraj gave to Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah, the solemn task to gather the palm leaf mansucripts of the 18 Tamil Yoga Siddhas, and to preserve, transcribe and publish them. During the 1960's Yogi Ramaiah wandered all over Tamil Nadu collecting and carefully preserving them against white ants. In 1968 he published "Songs of the 18 Yoga Siddhas," a small anthology of these in their original Tamil language. From 1979 to 1982 he published the collected works of Babaji's guru, the Siddhar Boganathar, in their original Tamil, in three volumes, nearly 1,800 pages in length. In 1999, his student of 18 years, M. Govindan Satchidananda, the President of Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, and sponsor of the Project developed a research plan in four parts:

Study number 1, "An Inventory and Preservation in Magnetic Format of the Manuscripts Associated with Yoga contained in Libraries and Private Collections of Tamil Nadu", has resulted in the copying onto electronic media, CD Roms, all of the the Siddha Manuscripts related to Yoga ( but not on medicine) from the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library (GOML), Chennai, the Adyar Library, Chennai, and the Kerala University Mansucripts Library, Tiruvanathapuram. The number of works copied so far from the GOML is 357, the number of folios: 11,212, the number of verses: approximately 45,000. In the case of Adyar Library we have gotten photocopies of 85 Siddha Yoga manuscripts including 1366 folios, and 7,000 verses approximately. In Kerala University photocopies of five Siddha Yoga manuscripts have been obtained. In Kerala University we are fortunate to have a mutilated manuscript on the history of the Siddhas called Jnana-bodagam. The collection of works in the GOML started in the year 2000 with Dr. KR. Arumugam, who as a Research Associate copied the manuscripts in CD Roms,. He was ably assisted by Sri Senthil Vadivalagan, The manuscripts have subsequently been transcribed into modern Tamil by Sri G. Uthiradam, M.A., M.Phil, Dip. in Manuscriptology, and Dip. in Epigraphy, and the correctness of the transcription has been scrutinized by the well-known scholar Sri. P. Subramaniam, who is a Ph.D. in Manuscriptology, a rare scholarship indeed.

The Centre is currently copying all of the manuscripts related to Yoga written by the Siddhas, at the Saraswati Mahal Library, in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It has one of the largest collections of such works, but until now, no researchers have been permitted to make copies of such works. More Siddha works in other collections, both private and institutional will be copied over the coming few years. With a comprehensive collection of all of the Siddha manuscripts, we can assure not only their future preservation, study and translation, by future generations of scholars and yogis.

Study number 2, "Translation into English with Commentary and Publication of Selected Manuscripts related to the Tamil Yoga Siddhas." This study has resulted in one of the publications today: "The Yoga of Siddha Avvai." Much more is expected from this study as we identify and select the "gems" among the manuscripts copied and transcribed in Study number 1.

Study number 3, "Translation with Commentary of an Anthology of Selected Works of the 18 Siddhas," began in the year 2000, and with the collaboration of several scholars and yogis, it has been completed with the release of "The Yoga of the 18 Siddhas: An Anthology."

Study number 4, "Translation with Commentary of Selected Poems on Yoga by Siddhar Boganathar," resulted in the publication, in July 2003, of volume 1 of "The Yoga of Siddha Boganathar," and today, with the publication of volume 2. It is based upon entirely upon the mammoth work of Yogi Ramaiah, cited above, "Bogar Kanda Yoga." At a later date, we hope to publish Boganathar's poem of 7,000 verses, and other works by this Siddha, in subsequent volumes.

See the article "Welcome Address for Yoga Siddha Research Center by M. Govindan Satchidananda" and the article "Biography of Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah," in the "Kriya Yoga Articles" section of this website for further details on the purpose and history of the above cited undertakings.

Inception of the Centre and future plans:
With the completion of the above cited items, at a formal book launch on January 9, 2005, and the invitation by the Vice Chacellor of the University of Madras to become affiliated with the University, the sponsor and the Research director decided to establish "The Yoga Siddha Research Centre," with a new budget, research plan, and advisory committee of scholars. The current plan for 2005 includes completion of the book, "The Yoga of Tirumular: Essays on the Tirumandiram," which will be published in 2005 by Babaji's Kriya Yoga and Publications, Inc. of Canada.

Beginning in April 2005, the Centre is also undertaking a new translation of the "Tirumandiram," which is probably the most important work by a Yoga Siddha, written, in the 4th century A.D. This will be done by: Sri T.V. Venkatraman, former Chief Secretary of the Government of Tamil Nadu, Sri T.N. Ramachandran, Professor T.N. Ganapathy, and Dr. KR Arumugam, all scholars of this great work.

The Chairman of our Advisory Committee is Professor R. Balasubramanian, Former Chairman, the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, former Director, the Dr. Radhakrishnan Institute for Advanced Study in Philosophy, University of Madras, Emeritus Professor of the Sri Aurobindo School of Philosophy, Central University, Pondicherry. He is an outstanding scholar in the field of Vedanta.

DR. T.N. GANAPATHY, Director, The Yoga Siddha Research Center, was Post-Graduate Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, RKM Vivekananda College, Chennai. At present he is a visiting professor at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, (Deemed University), Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh. He has participated in a number of national and international seminars and conferences. His publications include: Perspectives of Theism and Absolutism in Indian Philosophy (ed. 1978), Mahavakyas (1982), Bertrand Russell's Philosophy of Sense-Data (1984), The Philosophy of the Tamil Siddhas (1993), The Yoga of Siddha Boganathar (2003).

DR. T.B. SIDDHALINGAIAH, formerly Professor of Saiva Siddhanta and Director, Institute of Correspondence Education, M.K. University, Madurai, is a specialist in Saivism, Tamil language and literature. He has many publications including: Origin and Development of Saiva Siddhanta (1979); Samudaya Beedhi (1986); Meyyunarvu Malargal (1993). He was a member of the Advisory Committee of International Scholars, British Saiva Siddhanta Center, London and a member of the General Council and Tamil Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1988-93.

DR. PREMA NANDAKUMAR, has had a first class academic career in Andhra University. Her translations of Subramania Bharati's poems and of the classics, Manimekalai, etc., have won high praise. She has published biographies of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Subramania Bharati. Her critical studies include Sri Aurobindo's Savitri: A Study, T.V. Kapali Sastri, In Search of Hinduism, and Kulo-thungan: A Poet of Today and Tomorrow.

DR. P.S. SOMASUNDARAM, formerly Principal of D.G. Vaishnava College, Chennai and C.T.M. College of Arts and Science, Chennai, also held position as Professor and Head of the Department of Tamil in those colleges. His book in English entitled Tirujnanasambandhar-Philosophy and Religion was awarded first prize by the Tamil University, Thanjavur. His other publications include History of Tamil Literature.

DR. S.P. SABHARATHNAM, was a Reader in the Department of Saiva Siddhanta at the University of Madras. He is a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar with expertise in Vedas, Agamas, Vastu and Shilpa Sastras and honored with the titles of Saiva Acharya Ratna and Veda Agama Vastu Shilpa Vaachaspati.

DR. KR. ARUMUGAM, Research Associate, The Yoga Siddha Research Center, Chennai, has post-graduate and doctorate degrees in philosophy and Tamil Literature. He is a General Fellow of the ICPR, New Delhi, his project being The Social Concern of the Tamil Siddhas-A Study. He is a visiting faculty in the Sacred Heart Seminary, Poonamallee, Chennai. He has translated the book Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition from English to Tamil.

Click here to read the welcome address from M. Govindan Satchidananda, President of Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, Co-Sponsor of the Yoga Siddha Research Centre.

We need your support to fulfull this program. Your contribution is tax deductible. Send yours by December 31, if possible, and receive a receipt for your income tax return. Use your Visa or Mastercard or American Express!!

Our work is financed entirely by your contributions. There are many persons all over the world waiting to receive initiation. We will send acharyas as we receive the funds needed to pay for travel expenses. You may indicate for which of the above projects you wish to contribute.

Donations may be made payable to "Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas", and sent by check, draft or money order to 196 Mountain Road, P.O. Box 90, Eastman, Quebec, Canada J0E 1P0, or paid by a VISA, Mastercard or American Express authorization by calling 1-888-252.9642 or outside North America +1-450-297.0258 fax: +1-450-297.3957 or make your contribution online here.

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