Today at Kauai Aadheenam

Dear Bodhinatha,

With the grace of God and Gurudeva all is well with me. On February 29th I visited the Jaffna Kali Temple and met with the trustees and the priests. During the meeting I explained to them about Hindu Heritage Endowment and how it works, and handed over their First Annual Grant from HHE. They were so appreciative of the grant, and wished to thank the HHE and the donors who initiated the Jaffna Kali Temple Fund, Nigel and Inph Siva of Maryland, USA.

This Kali Temple is located in the heart of Jaffna town. It is within walking distance from the famous Vannarpannai Sivan Temple where Kadaitswami spent most of his time. In fact, there is an interesting story involving Kadaitswami and this Temple. During the construction of this temple, one day Kadaitswami showed up at the temple site and grabbed a stone, spit on it and gave it to the stone carvers and asked them to carve a Ganesha and place it there. They did that; and now in front of the Kali Temple under a tree there is a small shrine that houses Ganesha.

Herewith, I am enclosing the receipt for the grant, and some photos of the temple, including Kadaitswami's Ganesha.

Aum Shanthi,

Rishi Thondunathan

The Sri Subramuniya Kottam organized the Maha Sivaratri celebration this year. The celebrations began on the morning before the great night of Lord Siva. Devotees assembled at the Katpaga Pillaiyar Temple in Kopay at 8:00 am for puja.

After the puja, devotees carried paal kudam (milk pots) with the sacred bilva leaves in a procession lead by a Naathaswaram and Thavil musical ensemble to the Sri Shanti Lingam temple.

The devotee's paal kudams were used for the abhishekam of Sri Shanti Lingam which Gurudeva had installed. The Sivachariyas have performed a Homam and Abishekam to Sri Shanthi Lingam. The ceremonies ended at 12:30 pm. After that the prasadam was served to all the devotees. Then pujas resumed again in the evening, all through the night until early next morning.

Henri and Chandra Hoezoo from USA was the honorary guest for this year's Maha Sivarathri pujas.

Aum Shanthi,

Rishi Thondunathan

Greetings,

I just came back from visiting the Batticaloa Yogaswami Girls Home and two other boys homes there. It was heart warming to see the growth of the children from my last visit and also the development of these institutions. The Yogaswami Girl's Home is in fact attracting volunteers. In our girls home there were two teachers from England staying there for a month and teaching english. I also attended few public events. My sincere thanks to those who support these institutions. Enclosing are some photos for you to enjoy.

Aum Shanthi,

Rishi Thondunathan

You can contribute via the Hindu Heritage Endowment

http://www.hheonline.org/funds/fund_62.html

As you may know, in 2009 our Siva Poomi Elderly Home purchased 300 lachchams of land (about 40 acres) in Jaffna with the help of 6 families from California. We call this land Siva Poomi Farm.

Since then, much work has been done on the farm. When we purchased the land, it was abandoned and overgrown; now the land has been cleared and fenced, and we put a small building on it with a water tank. This is the third year we have planted rice in the 100 lachchams paddy field and are expecting a good harvest early in 2012. This rice will be used for Elderly Home meals. On the rest of the land, we have planted 400 coconut trees, mango trees, banana and lemon trees. We have also planted onions and vegetables. We now have a small dairy with 6 cows on the farm. Any milk produced in excess of what is used for the elderly home is sold locally. The farm has two full-time employees; seasonally we hire local people to work on the farm.

Our sincere thanks go to Manitha Neyam Trust and the donors. Click here to donate to this trust via the Hindu Heritage Endowment. In March, we purchased a two-wheeler tractor for the farm. We are a long way from being fully self-sufficient, but we are on our way to it. The farm not only provides for the Elderly Home, it also provides employment locally.

Thanks to a small group of kindhearted souls halfway around the world in California, people are obtaining benefit from their generosity in their motherland.

In Peace,

Rishi Thondunathan

PS. I am enclosing some photos of the farm and the Elderly Home for you to enjoy.

One of Gurudeva's teachings to all his sishya was to encourage respect, care and nuture of our elders. He promoted the idea that elders should live near temples and have an opportunity to pursue spiritual life. Of course this can only happen if we teach this ideal to the next the younger generation

Sishya, Thondunathan, is very active in the Tamil Sri Lankan community and he write: "One of the important goals of my teaching mission is to encourage our youth to love and respect the elderly and learn from them. Whenever I visit Canada, I accompany my students to the elderly homes and we sing, play instruments and entertain them.

In July, when we were at one such home, one of the residents named Mr. Mohamed (of Pakistani origin), told us that day was his birthday. We wished him a happy birthday; later, one of the nurses told us that Mr. Mohamed did not have a family, and even on his birthday no one visits him. The next day, we went back to see Mr. Mohamed, sang "Happy Birthday," gave him gifts and lots of hugs. Yes, tears began to roll down his face. We told the children that this is Sivathondu - "Service to God." It was a great learning experience for the students.

In Sri Lanka, once a month, students travel from the neighboring schools to our Sivapoomi Elderly Home and perform cultural programs for the elderly. The elders love the programs and they look forward to them. So, whenever I am in Sri Lanka, I give talks in public schools, and one of my main topics is always about loving and caring for the elderly and the needy.

I hope and pray that more and more schools and parents in the East and West will get involved in this kind of Sivathondu, and give their children such a meaningful firsthand experience of life and service.

In Peace,

Rishi Thondunathan

About the photos: Our visit to the eldely home in Canada in July, the Sivapoomi Elderly Home and some of the school talks in Sri Lanka in March of this year.