27 LIFE OF KAVYAKANTHA SRI GANAPATI MUNI

<p>Ganapati Muni was born in Kalavarayai near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbili" title="Bobbili">Bobbili</a> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhuvaneshwar" title="Bhuvaneshwar">Bhuvaneshwar</a>, where he performed his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapas_(Sanskrit)" title="Tapas (Sanskrit)">tapas</a>. When Ganapati was staying in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi" title="Varanasi">Varanasi</a> he learned of an assembly of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> scholars in the city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabadwip" title="Nabadwip">Nabadwip</a> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanchipuram" title="Kanchipuram">Kanchipuram</a> he came to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachala" title="Arunachala">Arunachala</a> (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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore" title="Vellore">Vellore</a> in 1904. He wrote his devotional epic hymn "Uma Sahasram," One Thousand Verses on Uma (goddess Parvathi), after accepting Ramana Maharshi as his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru" title="Guru">Guru</a> on 18 November 1907. He also met <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo" title="Sri Aurobindo">Sri Aurobindo</a> on 15 August 1928. Ganapati Muni died at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharagpur" title="Kharagpur">Kharagpur</a> on 25 July 1936.</p> <p>If you would like to support this cause, kindly contribute through