Transforming Life-Worlds: In Praise of Kundrakudi Adigalar’s Practical Spirituality

Abstract

This article delves into the transformative spiritual praxis of Kundrakudi Adigalar, the Pontiff of the Kundrakudi Mutt, located fifty miles away from Madurai. He was one of the well-known spiritual leaders of the twentieth century, Tamilnadu. He embodied within himself social vision and spiritual pragmatism. He was both a spiritualist and rationalist. Deeply rooted in Tamil Saivism, he never shied away from seeking Truth where he found it, be it in other religious traditions, ideologies and knowledge systems. No sooner he found it; he would immediately translate it into concrete actions and would innovate schemes and micro-structures that worked for the transformation of the lives of ordinary village people. In exploring his practical spirituality, the essay highlights six-fold ideological shifts that Adigalar brought about in the domain of religion and spirituality.