27 LIFE OF KAVYAKANTHA SRI GANAPATI MUNI

Ganapati Muni was born in Kalavarayai near Bobbili in Andhra Pradesh on 17 November 1878. His parents, Narasimha Sastri and Narasamamba had three sons, Muni being the second. Ganapati, when 18 years old, set out and wandered from one place to another, residing in places like Bhuvaneshwar, where he performed his tapas. When Ganapati was staying in Varanasi he learned of an assembly of Sanskrit scholars in the city of Nabadwip in Bengal. He participated in it and on passing the tests in extempore Sanskrit prose and poetry, was conferred the title 'Kavyakantha'. He was then 22 years old. He returned home at the age of 25. From Kanchipuram he came to Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) in 1903 to perform tapas. At that time he visited Ramana Maharshi, who was then known as Brahmanaswami, before he accepted a teaching post in Vellore in 1904. He wrote his devotional epic hymn "Uma Sahasram," One Thousand Verses on Uma (goddess Parvathi), after accepting Ramana Maharshi as his Guru on 18 November 1907. He also met Sri Aurobindo on 15 August 1928. Ganapati Muni died at Kharagpur on 25 July 1936. If you would like to support this cause, kindly contribute through www.patreon.com/SriramIyer. All proceeds will be utilised on hundreds of children who are learning the vedas to keep Sanatana Dharma up; in veda patashalas and tols.  Namaste.