Bogar — Tamil Siddhar Rishi

Bogar, known in Tamil as Bhogar or Boganathar, is one of the most legendary and enigmatic figures among the eighteen Siddhars of Tamil Nadu, celebrated for his mastery of alchemy, metallurgy, and yogic siddhis, and traditionally credited with creating the navapashanam (nine-poison) idol of Lord Murugan at the Palani hill temple, a unique deity image formed from a rare alchemical amalgam of nine medicinal and metallic substances said to possess healing properties. Bogar's biography, largely preserved through esoteric Siddha literature such as the Bogar 7000, blends the fantastical with the medical, presenting him as a wandering adept who journeyed to China, where he is said to have taught alchemy and yoga, merging with or influencing Daoist internal alchemy traditions, an association that, while historically contested, is deeply embedded in South Indian Siddha lore and reflects ancient trans-Asian spiritual exchange. He is considered a disciple of Kalangi Nathar and guru to Pulipani, continuing a Siddha lineage devoted to the pursuit of physical immortality (kaya siddhi) through rigorous alchemical and yogic practice, believing that a perfected, deathless body was necessary for sustained spiritual realization and service to humanity. His writings, composed in cryptic Tamil verse understandable only to initiated practitioners, cover pharmacology, mercury-based medicine (rasashastra), and meditative techniques, and he is still worshipped today at Palani, where devotees believe he remains alive in a subtle body, continuing to guard and empower the temple's central deity from a hidden underground chamber.