The great sayings of Sage Chellappaswami:

Oru Pollappumillai–Intrinsic evil there is not.
Eppavo Mudintha Kariyam–Accomplished is His Will.
Naam Ariyom–We know not.
Muluthum Unmai–All that is, is Truth Absolute.

Arun and Hemah from West Virginia are still on the island and came again to worship. Arun said he had never felt the presence of God as he had when he stepped into Kadavul temple.

When it is not a tour day, the grounds are closed to general passing tourists. They drop in nevertheless, having found out about us in some magazine or guidebook. We have some big mounted binoculars they can use to see Iraivan from a distance or look up at the top of Mount Waialeale on a clear day.

Our Mauritius report writes:

“Year 2005 started up with a very nice ceremony at the Spiritual Park on January 2. The Ganesha Homa sponsored by the Koothan, Moorghen and Manick Kutumbas has been another inspiring spiritual event in the midst of New Year 2005 festivities. An unusually large group of devotees turned on that day.

There were so many cars parked on the roadside early that morning that our own members had problems to find a parking for themselves.

Pancha Mukha Ganapati looked majestic on that day….

The interior of the Mandapam was packed to capacity and devotees had to accommodate themselves on the steps …

Those outside were happy and concentrated their attention on the whole ceremony.

No one ever missed to pass their hands over the sacred flame and gently touch their eyes…

Devotees gathered under the shade of the mango trees to have lunch.

One nice family from Poudre D’or. They rarely miss a Ganesha Homa…

Kulapati and Kulamata Kulagan and some friends of the Park.

The Chinniah family from Piton. Mrs Chinniah is an enrolled Himalayan Academy student. Her little son is in the Saivite Hindu Religion children’s class at the Park.

Our smart gentleman with his family from Quatre Bornes. They attend Homa regularly.

Mrs Vanisha Virapin on the right with her family. They prepared and offered lunch to everyone on that day. Mrs. Vanisha is from Grand Baie and is an enrolled HA student.

These two gentle are from Flacq. They are so happy starting the new year with Lord Ganesha’s Blessings.

Kulamata Premila Manick (in orange) with the Rungapen Pillay family.

Kulamata Moilavadee Moorghen and her three sons.

Members Thungavelu ( right) and Logadassen from the SK Moorghen kutumba in Rose Hill.

Mr. Siven Veerapen and family from Vacoas. They are very close friends of the Park and have been actively helping in many projects, including the Muruga Mandapam.

We have good news today from Patrick Harrigan about the progress of the Thirunavukkarasu Nayanar Gurukulam orphan boys…

Patrick Harrigan hands the new clothing to Dr. Mihir Meghani as they boys line up to receive these welcome gifts from afar. Patrick is eager to get them into their traditional clothing, as the emergency relief clothing is all pants and t-shirts which they do not normally wear in their culture. He writes:

“I distributed the 34 dhotis gifted by the Venkatakrishnan family of Chennai to the 17 boys who were residing at Vipulananda Swami Childrens Home some days ago. Today I returned with Vigyananand Swami.

Dr. Mihir Meghani helped Patrick distribute the new clothing. He is in Sri Lanka doing relief work. He has been reading Hinduism Today since he was a young man. Gurudeva guided his life and he is now president of the American Hindu Foundation in the US.

” …all the Thirunavukkarasu boys in a family photo with swami in front of the Vipulananda Orphanage where they
were taken in for the last month.”

Please click here to see our home page for the relief efforts, latest news on the boys, plans for reconstruction and donations to date.

“…and another of him with Kannan and other boys who were preparing to occupy this rented house in Tambiluvil just near to the Kannaki Amman Kovil later today. They are standing in front of the new place that will be their home until the orphanage is rebuilt. I was sure that you would be interested to have this good news that they are now reoccupying a house together as a gurukulam once again, even though it is not the entire family just yet. Kannan has over 30 boys ready to occupy this house today, and they are looking at other building sites nearby…”

“The new house the boys will rent and live in for a few months. The young boys were spending the whole day Thursday scrubbing the new rented house to make it neat and clean for rehabitation on Friday.”

“the old gurukulam although relatively unscathed by the tsunami, happens to lie within the 100 meter zone that the government has declared as a strictly enforced zone where no habitations will be permitted.”

Another shot of the damage to the orphanage by the tsunami waves.

Bonsai by the temple tank…

Child Saint Sambandar dances in the water fountain