Pithukuli Murugadas

Pithukuli Murugadas is an Indian religious singer. He has sung devotional songs in the Tamil language. Murugan is one of the best compositions are done by him. He was born in Coimbatore. His parents were Sundaram Iyer and Alamelu and belonged to a Brahmin family. From a young age, he was interested in devotional activities. He used to practice yoga at the age of seven in Palani. He practiced it under the guidance of Nadayogi Brahmananda Paradesiar. His teacher used to call him "Pittukuli" which means insane or mad in Tamil. He has even fought for the freedom of the country and took part in the Salt Satyagraha campaign in 1931. He was imprisoned twice for his activities. He had even participated in the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre, in 1936 and was put behind the bars for six months. At the age of 15, he left his schooling and boarded a train at Coimbatore. He used to work for himself and earn with all possible works he could do and earn money for his living. He used to earn a rupee out of which he used give twenty-five paisa as charity and with the remaining made a living for himself. During his visits, he met many saints. In 1939, he met Swami Ramadoss, Mata Krishnabai in their Ashram in South Kanara.

Over there he sang a song on Lord Muruga and after that he was renamed as Murugadas. He met Avadhudha Swami Swayam Prakash in 1940 at Sendhamangalam and spent few days with him. They both went on a pilgrimage and traveled the whole India on foot. Pre-independence period he joined Thirupugaz Mani and made bhajans in the praise of Lord Muruga. During his childhood, he got an injury while playing and was internally infected. After some years, he started having the problem because and the infection was spreading to the other eye as well. He got operated and removed the infected eye causing no damage to the other. After the operation, he started wearing black glasses. His teachings and devotional songs were not just limited to the Indian audience but were also wide spread. He had his followers in US, Mauritius, UK, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Seychelles. His followers in these countries were fully endorsed by it and would sing and recite bhajan. He has opened 'Pithukuli Murugadas Education Trust for South Africans' In South Africa. He got married to Devi Saroja in 1978. He died on 17 November 2015 when he was 95 years of age.