*Sundaram Iyer Day - 17.02.2025* On this sacred day, February 17, 2025, we commemorate the aradhana of Sundaram Iyer, the revered father of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. His life’s narrative is one of tireless effort, profound character, and a destiny interwoven with divine grace. At the tender age of sixteen, he began his career as a clerk, earning a modest wage of two rupees per month. By 1879, Sundaram Iyer had risen to become a pleader in Tiruchuzhi, having first taken on the humble role of a village accountant’s clerk at just twelve years old. Sundaram Iyer embodied unyielding determination, a keen perception of human nature, and remarkable endurance. His home was a sanctuary of generosity, offering meals to all who came, including the downtrodden and even those on the fringes of society. Such was the respect he commanded that no harm ever befell him or his belongings even from thieves. His life was a testament to integrity and compassion, virtues that won the admiration of many. Vishwanatha Swamigal’s famed composition of the 108 names of Bhagavan includes the tenth, “Sundaraya tapah phalaya”—a profound declaration that the birth of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was the fruit of Sundaram Iyer’s intense spiritual penance. Blessed with intelligence and diligence, Sundaram Iyer swiftly mastered the drafting of legal documents, navigating the complexities of official and public life with grace and diplomacy. His professional life afforded him the means to construct a spacious, two-section home: one for his family’s dwelling and the other to house guests. Ever magnanimous, Sundaram Iyer purchased a plot of land at the northeastern edge of the town and donated it to the public as a cremation ground—a final gift that spoke of his profound community spirit. A remarkable familial legacy also distinguished Sundaram Iyer’s lineage: in every generation, one male member would renounce worldly life to become a wandering ascetic. His paternal uncle donned the ochre robe and lived on alms, while Sundaram Iyer’s elder brother disappeared after a visit to Tirupparankundram, later sighted at Chidambaram clearing the temple grounds for devotees’ barefooted circumambulations. He was later seen in Benares, having fully embraced the ascetic path. This recurring family phenomenon traces its origins to a story passed down through generations: once, a wandering ascetic was denied due respect and a meal when he visited their home. As he departed, he left a solemn pronouncement—that in every generation, one member of the family would take up the life of a renunciate. Was this a curse or a hidden blessing? Surely, as history unfolded, it proved to be the family’s greatest benediction—a divine thread that would lead, in time, to the birth of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, whose light continues to illumine the world to this day.