India is a land of mystics and seers. World teachers and religious reforms down the ages strode the land and preached the eternal verities of life.
The messages of Buddha, Mahavira, Shankaracharya , Basaveshwara and Guru Nanak in the days of old, and Ramakrishna Paramabamsa, Vivekanand and Mahatma Gandhi in recent times, were intended for the benefit of humanity in order that the World might be a happier place to live, free from strife and discord.
The land has been hallowed, time and again, by the yogis who scorned earthly comforts and subjected themselves to physical rigours to attain a life of spiritual perfection. They, thus, became the living examples of the ultimate triumph of spirit over matter. They showed the divine path to the distraught man. One such yogi was shri Yerriswamy of Chellaguriki.
The great sage, Shri Yerriswamy was no ordinary mortal. That he was something out of the ordinary or a super-human soul, there could-hardly, be two opinions. At least those who came into contact with him during his life-time testify that shri Yerriswamy was a great soul. Shuch swamijis are born once in ages. We must certainly consider those who met him and served him as singularly fortunate.
The District of Bellary, celebrated in many ways, was sanctified by his presence. Bellary itself is a place where several sages and swamijis had their being. Shri Mariswami Shivayogi, the reputed saint and his great disciple, Sakkari Karadeppa, lived in Bellary and by their super-human deeds, attracted a large following.
