When you seek a guru
Seek one who is holy and pure
And then give him your all–
Your body, life and wealth.
Then in constancy learn clearly,
Not a moment distracting.
Surely shall you thus reach Siva’s State.
Placing His Feet on my head,
The Master blesses me. He is holy Guru.
He my Self-Realization works.
He takes the jîva to the state beyond tattvas.
He sunders my bonds. All these he performs–
He that is Truth itself.

Potriyan Sivanathan just arrived from east Malaysia to stay as a guest at Kauai Aadheenam for a month. He will learn more about our monastic life as he serves with the monastics in various capacities and deepens his spiritual studies.

This is Iqbal and Manjit Dhindsa family visiting from Phoenix area in Arizona. It is their daughter’s sixth birthday today…happy birthday! They came to our monastery a few times in the last several days waiting for the right weather and timing to see Iraivan Temple, and it finally happened. They were appreciative of how traditionally the temple is being created.

The older couple in this photo live in Honolulu. They are associated with an Indian art gallery there and had heard about Iraivan Temple and wanted to see it in person. They were very impressed with the magnitude of the temple project.

The temple took a big leap forward today with the raising up of more pillars. It was as if the devas planned for it. After weeks of rainy days, the sun came out today. Perfect cool clear weather for our team.

Just to give you an idea of the extent of our watery blessings..last night on Oahu, they got 3 inches of rain in 45 minutes, 10 inches for the whole 24 hours…

This is a second row of pillars out in front of the main sanctum…

“Down… down… perfect!”

Our Siddhidata Kulam is on the job. Sadhaka Tejadevanatha on site.

“First we need to know, deep inside ourselves, who is the Supreme God. Is He Siva? Is He Vishnu, Krishna, or is She Durga? Having made that determination, we can gather like-minded people together to design and build a temple to our Supreme God. There is no power in a temple to more than one Supreme God, no power at all.”

Gurudeva

“Siva’s followers all believe that religion is the harmonious working together of the three worlds and that this harmony can be created through temple worship, wherein the beings of all three worlds can communicate.”

Shyamadeva Dandapani is here from Alaska… watching the progress with Sadhaka Adinatha.

The morning sun is the best time to take photos, with all the carving highlighted with cross lighting from the east.

Larry Conklin our trust-worthy and expert crane operator… safety is first on his list of priorities.

Another Chitra pillar ….

“My devotees revere Kauai Aadheenam’s San Marga Iraivan Temple as their center of the universe, our Saiva dharmashalas as sites of learning and service, and mission houses as places of study, worship and assembly.”

Gurudeva