Bodhinatha is in San Francisco after a long flight from London and will be arriving on Kauai tomorrow.

Bodhinatha’s and Arumugaswami’s visit to London has just ended and they began the journey home early this morning, London time…

We have had a few very positive reports of his welcome there and his affect on the people he met. Niraj Thaker, pictured here with his fiancee, helped prepare some aspects of Bodhinatha’s and Arumugaswami’s visit.

He sent us this report:
“After having Bodhinatha’s Darshan, there are no words to describe the feeling. We all feel great peace and inner joy. Everything seems perfect and life seems to give us many things back. I can imagine how the Swamis and Sadhakas must feel living in the Aadheenam with the company of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!

There was a lot of interest with Gurudeva’s books, Hinduism Today and especially for the booklets (reprints of articles from Hinduism Today that each focus on, and clarify, one key aspect of Hinduism).

The day was brilliant and the moon full and beautiful.

The next day was the 3-hour Seminar on the fundamentals of Saivism. The presentations were deep, clear and wonderfully inspiring. Each one was followed by questions and answers–good questions, great answers. It was a good turnout and the youth stayed alert and enthusiastic right to the end. Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami are brilliant speakers. I am very fortunate to have had the privilege of meeting and hearing them.

The next function at the Neasden temple was a managed very well by the very impressive Swaminarayan monks. Their hospitality is impeccable and we were all made to feel most welcome and very special.

Traveling back in the tube (underground train), we felt as if everything else was alien or not real as if we had just seen supreme reality.

We are going back to our daily chores and routines of the worldly life, now, but are definitely taking with us the mystical powers of Lord Siva attained from the teachings of Bodhinatha!”

— Niraj

We had a big group of Hindus yesterday. As always, the Gujarati families are thrilled to find rudraksha beads everywhere…

Here’s an interesting story. Here we see the extended Motilal Benarsidas (MLBD) Jain family. MLBD is one of India’s oldest and most respected publishers of academic works. The MLBD imprimature is known the world over. Hardly a university in the world does not buy their books on a thousand subjects relating to India. And we featured them in the recent issue of Hinduism Today.

Gurudeva met the publishers in New Delhi in 1995. They were deeply impressed with his books.

The MLBD team begged to reprint Gurudeva’s books in India and they have done several editions. In fact, a distributor in Canada buys copies of Dancing with Siva from India and not from Hawaii, because the price is low.

Our correspondent in New Delhi, Rajiv Malik was commissioned to a story on the prestigious company and the family behind it.

They just received their copy of Hinduism Today a week back and wrote this e-mail to our editorial team in Hawaii….

“Oh my God ,what a wonderful composite story on MLBD’s family tradition. Not only was it a colourful treat for the eyes, but an extra-ordinary delight for all who read it. Our friends and relatives, who have known us for years, are all ready to go for a party.

Indeed, we are all indebted to the entire HIMALAYAN ACADEMY family for the interest shown and Rajiv Malik’s meticulous efforts in putting everything together. There have been so many write-ups on MLBD by Indian media, but yours was par excellence. We’d like to put this article on our website http://www.mlbd.com hope we have your permission.

Your cover story on HINDU PARENTING was so wonderful that Kiran Modi of Udayan Care picked up a theme from it and did a workshop for Udayan children which comes under your Udayan Care Endowment Fund. She esp. mentioned to me that she has never before read such a story on MLBD. Perhaps, your organization is gifted with extra-ordinary writing skills.

Warmest personal regards

Smt Lila Jain
NP Jain
JP Jain
RP Jain (All 3)

East China Gopuram of Iraivan that covers a small meditation mandapam.

Lion pillars of Iraivan’s East Gopuram.

Brilliant to almost blinding in the sun…

Are we in Hawaii? or is this some where in Tamil Nadu?

Bhadra pillars in front of the main sanctum.

The “sannidhya” (powerful force of sanctity that radiates out and around a holy place) of Iraivan is already very powerful

On the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Maha Sivaratri is a very important festival and public holiday.

For the Mauritian Hindu, a pilgrimage to the volcanic sacred lake of Grand Bassin is a spiritual obligation his family fulfills every year on Maha Sivaratri. This the religious place in Mauritius where Supreme God Siva is most worshipped.

The Legend goes that very long ago some deva-like beings were seen hovering over this lake. It
was considered as the local sacred Ganga River flowing from God Siva. Hence, it slowly developed into a sacred site for Saivite pilgrimage.

Every year thousands of devotees pilgrimage to Grand Bassin, also known as Ganga Talao, to worship God Siva. The festival galvanizes immense religious fervor and mass participation. Towns and villages all mobilize their energy to steer towards the sacred lake.

It is a wonderful for the whole family to worship together. Devotees take some of the lake water back with them to worship in their home shrines and at their local temples. The holy water gathered from the sacred lake is highly valued in every Hindu household.

Worshipping Ganga the traditional way…

Devotees feel the closeness of the sacred River Ganga when they stand worshipping with their feet immersed in the lake.

Siva temples have been built at the water’s edge with the Sivalingam as the main murthi. At one such temple is a jyothi lingam (photo). There are many astounding testimonies from devotees about God manifesting in this Lingam.

It has been reported that the lingam has suddenly lit up during the Maha Sivaratri puja. Recently local TV reported the manifestation of a human like figure in the lingam.

No doubt it is the most worshipped place of the sacred lake and devotees lovingly queue up for hours before getting access inside the temple.

The Ganga Talao takes on an air of of mysticism and divinity… You really feel suddenly transformed into a spiritual being when you are there.

A new project in now under way at the sacred lake. Inspired by the construction of a concrete giant statue in India, a 108-foot-tall Siva murthi is now being constructed at Grand Bassin. Here it is shown with the scaffolding used by the plaster craftsmen.

The feet of the murthi resting on a pedestal almost the height of a human being.

Here is what the Siva murthi will look like once the construction has been completed. It is being called Shri Mangal Mahadev.

Many pilgrims, especially those of the North Indian ancestry, carry on their shoulders bamboo structures (kanwars) decorated with muslin paper, tinkling bells and countless mirrors. The construction of these kanwars constitutes an artistic feat coupled with patience. Here is one such ‘kanwar’ which the pilgrims pull like a little chariot.

They depart from their homes and take the kanwar all the way to Grand Bassin, sometimes a walk on foot 15 miles or more.