Sri Annamalai Swami
In the early days, when B was staying at Virupaksha Cave, he frequently used to go to the summit alone, stay for sometime, and then return to the cave. He told me that on one occasion when he went to the peak by himself he was secretly followed by a devotee called Coutrallam swami. Ten minutes after B reached the top, Coutrallam swami appeared with a mud pot containing water. He had followed B to the summit, carrying this pot on his back, so that B should not suffer from thirst after his long climb.
Coutrallam Swami, who was also known as Sivaya or Mouni Swami, eventually left B and became a famous spiritual figure in his own right. He became the head of several maths, had many followers, and even had a big car, a great rarity in those days.
Some people thought that he was a rather arrogant man but B once spoke to me about him in glowing terms: 'He is a good devotee but he does not show his devotion externally. The devotion is all inside. He hides it so well that most people think that he is not a good devotee. I like this kind of devotion very much.'
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