Background
Appayya Swami was born as Palanganda Appaiah, the son of a Kodava paddy farmer in Kodagu (Coorg) in 1885.Appayya did his schooling in English and Kannada at Central High School, Mercara.
Appayya Swami was born as Palanganda Appaiah, the son of a Kodava paddy farmer in Kodagu (Coorg) in 1885.Appayya did his schooling in English and Kannada at Central High School, Mercara.
Later he entered the Government Service under the Raj. However, he was of a religious bend of mind since childhood, and was inspired by the lives of Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda. He sought a spiritual guru, eventually selecting Guru Ramagiri.
His Guru ordained him into Sannyas (monkhood) in 1917.
In the monastery, Swamigalu learnt and composed several hymns. Over time he became a spiritual teacher with several disciples and was hence given the title of Sadguru.
In 1941 he founded a monastery in Virajpet known as Kaveri Ashram after the river goddess Kaveri. A school is named after him in Somwarpet, Kodagu called Sadguru Appayya Swamy High School.
He died in 1956, aged 71.