Seshadri Swamigal, also known as the "Saint with a Golden Hand", was an Indian holy man who was born in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

[2] Varadaraja Sastrigal and Maragatham were yearning for a male child to continue their family lineage.

One night, Kamakshi appeared in Sastrigal's dream and said: "Offer butter and a child of wisdom shall be born".

Swamigal went into trances as a child, and would sit on his father's lap in a meditative chin mudra pose.

Thinking that the child resembled Krishna, the merchant gave him the idol free of charge.

[1] Swamigal's journey then took him to Kaveripakkam,[1] 20 miles (32 km) west of Kanchipuram, where some relatives (including his elder maternal aunt) lived.

[1] Learning about his presence in Kaveripakkam, his aunt and uncle rushed from Kanchipuram to find Swamigal meditating in the temple pond with a lingam made of tamarind rice and curd rice given as alms by his aunt, Sundarammal of Kaveripakkam.

He arrived in Tindivanam, near Tiruvannamalai; he had taken a vow of silence, and was known as "Mouna Swamigal" (the eternally-silent saint).

Swamigal asked that the room, used for performing homas (fire rituals), be locked from the outside and opened after four months.

Swamigal left Thoosimamadur for North Arcot before the brothers could meet, however, and spent time in the Muthukumaraswamy and Brahmeswara Swamy temples.

[1] He left Tirupattur, crossed the Javvadhu Hills and reached Padavedu (seven miles from Aathvaan Paadi), where he remained for two days.

When Vallimalai Swamigal began spreading the beauty of the Thiruppugazh, an old man asked for alms, ate 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) of porridge and disappeared; his disciples looked for the person with such a ravenous appetite.

For several months Swamigal had repeatedly sought guidance from a devotee about constructing a new residence, symbolically contemplating departure from his mortal existence.

He would roam around town with a half-shaven face, wearing dirty clothes, oblivious to his surroundings or appearance.

[1] Swamigal predicted the death of an apparently-healthy child, and gave successful dietary advice to a sick man at Arunachala.