Upon reaching Poovantanthoppu, (present-day
Swamithopu), he undertook a penance. The penance consisted of three stages, each spanning two years. A tradition describes his postures during the six-year tavam as follows: during the first two years, he stood inside a six feet deep pit; during the next two years, he squatted on the ground; and during the last two years, he sat on a raised platform. His appearance was squalid, "long and entangled plait of hair" and frayed clothes. He spoke less and subsisted on frugal meals. The
Akilam speaks of the act of incinerating the evil spirits as an important event in the life of Ayya Vaikundar. It took place when he was performing his penance, which had been announced by him to be the means of destroying the
kalimayai – the illusory evil force. He, then, gathered the people around, and caused some of them to get possessed of the evil spirits (peyattam). The possessed ones came and danced in front of the crowd as if the evil spirits had come upon them. Vaikundar, then, ordered these evil spirits to make an oath, in front of the people, to surrender their powers and get burned up in flames. When he had finished his orders, those dancing under the duress of possession got exhausted and fell flat on the ground. Thus the evil spirits were incinerated. Vaikundar performed another action to 'seize the esoteric evil powers'. The
Akilam says that, he took away the powers of those who knew to perform witchcraft, sorcery, and other magical rituals. People living in the hills, called as Kanikkarar, were believed to be powerful shamans or witchdoctors, having powers to contain or to provoke the demons. Vaikundar, in a trance, made some of these Kanikkarar to testify in front of the people that they had surrendered their powers. People grew appreciative of Vaikundar's actions. They began addressing him as Vaikuntacami. This implied an attribution of divinity to Vaikundar. The fame of Vaikundar had begun to spread in the countries of
Travancore and
Tirunelveli, and he had been gradually recognised socially as a religious person with extraordinary powers. In the religious parlance of the time, he was addressed as a
Pantaram, a religious person hailing from, and serving the ordinary folk. Akilattirattu addresses him as Pantaram. People came to him to listen to his teachings and instructions, to be cured by him of different diseases, to witness, worship and serve a religious person. Vaikundar encouraged the people to come together around a well to take a ritual bath, irrespective of caste differences. He encouraged them to dine together in his presence. He gave out a number of teachings and instructions, the central point of which was that he had come to abolish
Kali Yukam, and to usher in an age of
Dharma Yukam, during the time of which the now-oppressed and suffering people would be liberated and rule the land under his leadership. 'Uplift of the lowly is dharmam’. was a constant refrain in his teachings. People were encouraged to serve as catalysts for the destruction of
Kali by transforming themselves to be 'people of Dharma Yukam' and to acquire a new character. The new character would come upon them, he said, if they learned to live with self-respect, social dignity and fearlessness. Underscoring the importance of self-respect and social dignity, he said, ‘if one lives with dignity and self-respect, the kali would destroy itself’. He said when people grew out of
kalimayai, Dharma Yukam would unfold itself and in that age, he would rule over the people as Dharma Raja, the king of Dharma Yukam. ==Arrest and post-imprisonment==