Manavasi Ramaswami Iyer (also known as Saranagati Ramaswami Iyer) was a devotee of
Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...
. He composed the well-known song ''Saranagati'' in his devotion to Ramana Maharshi, which is still sung by devotees of Ramana Maharshi today.
Native to the
Manavasi
Manavasi is a village in Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu between the cities of Karur and Trichy. It is located in the Karur district. It is the location of the Toll Plaza on the Karur - Trichy Highway. One of the oldest Lord Shiva temple is ...
village of Trichy District, Ramaswami Iyer was transferred to a place only 60 kilometres from
Tiruvannamalai
Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...
, Villupuram, where he was the Supervisor of the Public Works Department there. He first went to Tiruvannamalai to meet Ramana Maharshi at the Virupaksha cave in 1907. He was suffering from severe dyspepsia and Ramana Maharshi cured him. Ramaswami Iyer also learned how to compose Tamil
kritis
''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...
from Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi also saved Ramaswami Iyer from death twice.
Ramaswami Iyer had five daughters and one son. His daughter Rajam was a painter and his daughter Lalitha Venkataraman was a singer.
Ramaswami Iyer planted and watered the massive banyan trees that today exist near the rear part of
Ramanashram.
''Saranagati''
Composition
Ramaswami Iyer composed his most well-known song, ''Saranagati'' (Saraṇāgati or சரணாகதி பாடல்), after coming to the Virupaksha cave to meet Ramana Maharshi after work one day in 1914.
He asked Ramana Maharshi in English, "Swami, Jesus Christ, the Buddha and other sages came to the world to redeem the sinners. Is there hope for me?" Ramana Maharshi looked at him and answered, in English, "Yes, there is hope." Inspired by his answer, Ramaswami Iyer composed ''Saranagati'', a song that is popular among many Tamil devotees of Ramana Maharshi to this day.
Lyrics
Other works
Ramaswami Iyer also composed a song called ''Ariya Taramamo''.
References
{{reflist
External links
Saranagati recording from Ramani Ammal, Ramaswami Iyer's daughterSaranagati recordingRecollections from Ramaswami Iyer
Religious composers
People from Karur district