Blog Archives
We have a flood of photos arriving now from Canada, Mauritius and from the previous trip back East. We will have to spread these out over several days.
Here at the Aadheenam, the focus is now on the coming Guru Purnima festival which will take place at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the action today is in Vancouver, Canada…
Bodhinatha arriving at the airport in Vancouver, having flown in from Edmonton. Ceyonswami is traveling with him.
TRAVEL NEWS! Bodhinatha is currently visiting Edmonton and Vancouver, Canada.
Next travel is July 3-4 in Cincinnati, Ohio. See travel page for more information.
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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The swamis from Hawaii are greeted by devotees of the local temple who have known us for years. Their first visit will be to the Richmond Hill Murugan Temple
Arrival at the temple…traditional oil lamps and a coconut at the entrance as Bodhinatha’s feet are ceremoniously washed.
The young ladies offer flowers in front of the path of the Satguru.
More Vancouver photos, this time from Paramacharya Ceyonswami who writes:
“There were quite a number of youth who participated in the evening events; the boy on the left played mridangam, several girls the vina, while others took turns fanning Bodhinatha with peacock feathers. Of course, there was a big rice and curry feast after the 3- hour event of pujas and talks.
Bodhinatha’s first evening in Vancouver at the Richmond Murugan Temple.
Bodhinatha talked on many aspects of the worship of Lord Muruga. The youth were extremely happy and enthusiastic with Bodhinatha’s visit to their little temple and many personally thanked him.
Each family wants a photo…
Another family… everyone is so beautifully dressed!
Retrospective moment: This photo was taken in April of 1982 at Subramania Kurukkal’s home temple, Chinthamany Vinayagar Temple in Navaly, Sri Lanka when Gurudeva visited with Paramacharya Palaniswami. Once, when kurrukkal was a young boy playing near a house Yogaswami was visiting, swami was watching him and motioned for the young boy to come over to him. Yogaswami, looking intently at him said, “One day you will be the chief priest of a Ganesha temple in Canada, across the oceans…now go and play.” That is Gurukkal on the left, standing by a pillar.
Gurudeva’s spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
A recent photo tour of our center in Mauritius which is perched on the ocean overlooking the sea to the east… Rajen Manick reports:
“Welcome to the Spiritual Park of Mauritius! You are now standing at main entrance and if you turn to your right and follow the lava rock path you will be greeted at our Mini Mela gift shop and book shelf and invited to come in….”
Little murthis of Lord Ganesha are there to greet you, too. They have been delicately carved by craftsmen in Mahabalipuram, South India.
Other murthis are on sale at the Mini Mela. This is Lord Muruga is waiting to be ceremoniously enshrined in some visitor’s home.
Visitors can buy various religious items, including the amazing books of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya swami at the Mini Mela.
Leaving the Mini Mela and going eastward, you will surely see the thatch roof of the Ganesha Mandapam above the mango trees. This roof has just undergone reinforcement maintenance work and is covered with new straw. Now rain water does not leak inside the Mandapam.
This lower thatch roof looks neat and beautiful now.
Here is a group of young men visiting the Park after their work. Ramloll, second from the left, has been participating in previous youth retreats when he was still at High School. Now he is a nursing officer and wanted to bring his friends to the Park.
Kulapati Amba Valaytan, upper left with a visitor from Reunion island. Kulapati organizes monthly karma yoga activities at the Spiritual Park. Should you want to join the team of Karma yogis, you can kindly phone the Spiritual Park on 412 7177 for more details.
At the far end of the Park, work is under progress at the Muruga Mandapam construction site. Wooden structures have been carefully set into place ready for the concrete pouring of the roof.
A view of the construction from the shore. This pavilion will protect our giant Six-Faced Murugan deity, and provide shelter for pilgrims when they come for His grace.
While construction works are underway at the Park, just opposite the Mandapam off the property, a piece of land is being cleared for some future infrastructural development by the Government near the shore. A mystical coincidence?
Now the concrete has been poured over the roof.
Here it is ….. This is what the six-sided Muruga Mandapam looks like from a distance.
This place with be a new beauty spot when the construction is fully completed. The effulgent Lord Murugan inside this Mandapam will divinely shine like the Egyptian Pharaohs for sailing boats coming down to this shore. this was Gurudeva’s vision years back, that Murugan would greet and bless all who saw Him from the sea.
Back Home at Kauai Aadheenam Today
One of the exciting developments is that the gold leaf work on the stupi stone of the Vimanam is being set in motion… the gold leaf has been ordered and plans are set to apply the gold sometime near the end of June and early July by a team of sevaks. Here is a sample stone with gold applied. It looks and even feels like gold paint, but it is real gold leaf.
This is an interesting web site which describes how the process works. Worth a visit as we get
closer to gold-leafing Iraivan!
http://www.zinnober.biz/how1.shtml
Just 90 seconds drive from the Aadheenam is the road over to our Himalayan Acres land across the river from the temple. Upgrades are in progress.
A new culvert is being installed to carry water from a stream underneath the road.
The road will be a boon not only for the monks but the other agriculturalists who have parcels in the area but live on the Wailua side of the river. It takes us almost an hour to drive to our land now, but after this road is open, it will be just 10 minutes.
The road goes through a beautiful Albezia forest. Some gravel and work will be done to help deal with the muddy areas.
This is an exquisite new plant with delicate flowers and marvelous coloring. It’s a member of the ginger family from Thailand, called “Pagoda Chalice.”
Stunning colors…this is a bromeliad that has opened this morning.
The lotus is blossoming while the previous one has formed a seed pod…
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