Shri Trailanga Swami
Trailinga Swami born to Narasingh Rao and Bidayabati in 1601, was a great Indian Saint who did tremendous sadhana for over 250 years and attained to the heights of spiritual knowledge. Swami is said to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva. His initial name was Shivaram.
Shivaram was always a profound and seriously introspective child. For the most part he avoided regular childhood past times, preferring instead to spend his time in solitude. He was quite indifferent to the demands of the society around him. Rather his great joy was to listen to religious stories told by his mother. He spent 52 years of his life serving his parents and at the age of 52 when his mother left her earthly body, Shivram moved out of his house and started his search for the guru. He started his sadhana in the local cremation grounds, where he remained seeking wisdom for 20 years. After that he went to many places including Nepal and finally settled in Banaras (Kashi) where he stayed for about 150 years.
The Swami, rarely eating earthly foods, was said to have gained a pound of body weight for each of his earthly years and finally reaching over 300 pounds.
The Swami was consistently seen to drink deadly poisons and remain unaffected by it. Thousands of people have seen Trailanga floating on the Ganges for days on end. Many who witnessed this are still living today. Swami was seen sitting on the top of the water and other times remaining hidden under the waves for hours and days. Frequently the Swami was seen on the extremely hot stone slabs at Manikarnika Ghat under the blistering heat of the Indian sun, yet no ill affect resulted to his body.
Trailanga Swami took samadhi on the ekadashi (11th lunar day) of the bright lunar of the month of Pousha (December) 1881.