Umanath Tiwari and wife, from Montreal, Canada, made arrangements for their pilgrimage to Kauai about 2 months ago and after their late arrival on the island last night, they were here this morning for the 9am Siva puja. They enjoyed having darshan with Bodhinatha.

Today was Chitra Padapuja… the ever powerful peak of feeling Gurudeva’s presence in the temple each month.

The Dandapani’s write from chilly Alaska:

“We had our Gurudeva Chitra Nakshatra Padapuja in our home shrine at 7:00am our time to be at the same time as it was in Kadavul Temple (photo attached).”

Mr. and Mrs. Tiwari out at Iraivan. Umanath said he first heard about us in the mid to late 1970’s and has been wanting to come here ever since. They both said this place is like heaven on earth. They invited Bodhinatha to come and visit their temple during his stay in Montreal later this year.

Anand and Charu with their daughters are from San Francisco in California. Anand says he always asks when he goes to a new place if there is a Hindu temple around and the concierge at the hotel on the island told them about us.

They were most impressed by the sanctity of our place, and the grandeur of Iraivan Temple. They also had a happy meeting with Bodhinatha.

Patrick Harrigan reports from Sri Lanka that he just revisited the temporary home rented to house the boys until their orphanage is rebuilt. He is working hard with the managers of the Thirunavukkarasu Nayanar Gurukulam to get the boys settled into their routines, an important thing for their peace of mind in the aftermath of the enormous destruction and death they recently experienced.

Here a group of younger boys meets for a class, sitting traditionally on the floor.

Worshipping together in the early hours of the day. Looking closely, you can see Gurudeva’s photo on the altar and his holy sandals below.

An elder in the village addresses the boys after their morning prayers and puja. They are being strictly guided in ways to deal with such a difficult time in their life, and Gurudeva’s teachings of “I’m all right, right now” are a practice for each of them.