Balumama

Devavtari Sadguru Sant Shri Balumama was a shepherd belonging the Kuruba Gowda Dhangar community. He is considered a saint and has many millions of followers in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. A shepherd, by the very nature of his job has to come in contact usually with people who are at the very low strata of society, whose life is sunk in vices and bad habits. A shepherd cannot remain unaffected by them. Not so Balumama, who was not an ordinary shepherd. It was these men of vices and bad habits, who could not remain unaffected by him, their life was completely changed almost beyond recognition by him. He was a practical guide and guide and counsel to them. Their wretched and immoral life was transformed into a civilized and spiritual one. They could not thank God sufficiently for their good fortune to have such a spiritual guide.

Balumama was born in 1892, in a village called Akkol in Chikkodi taluk of Belgaum district in Karnataka. His father was Mayappa and mother was Satyavva. He spent his childhood with his parents, but was always lost in meditation and was a quiet boy. He later went on to live with his sister and was married to her daughter against his will. The marriage did not last long. He was given aboutsheep by his inlaws which he started to tend.

Source: Wikipedia