It was tour day today. Guests came for darshan and booksigning with Bodhinatha.

This lady had Bodhinatha sign her copy of Lemurian Scrolls.

A young couple from Chennai.

Each day as the sun passes over Kadavul Temple the light passes through the skylight. At this time of year, at 11 am, after the Siva puja, it falls on the Maha Sphatika Lingam. It is impossible to describe that brief moment.

Devotees who have just sat through the 9 am puja may now be sitting quietly for meditation and prayer in the temple, as suddenly the crystal comes to life.

A slideshow from the Ganapati Kulam detailing activities of this past phase.

Halloween for the Aadheenam is all about bright and uplifting things. We would much rather dress up in the clothes of devas as we leave the world of goblins far behind us on the spiritual path.

Click to view.

It was tour day today, and guests got to see the silpis in action. We share with you the words of Nannapaneni Narayana Rao who describes his view of Kauai Aadheenam.

In America, you go to Kauaiswaram!

A Devotee discovers Kauai Aadheenam as parallel to Rameswaram

By Dr. Nannapaneni Narayana Rao

I came to the United States about 50 years ago in 1958 with $50, a passport and an undergraduate education in my technical field from the motherland, India, and, most of all, my Hindu heritage. For 50 years I pursued science in the field of electrical engineering with “grattitude” and “workship,” as you might have read in my article in the October/November/December, 2005, issue of Hinduism Today.

In 2003, I got connected to Kauai Aadheenam, owing to a Hindu Temple project we began at Champaign-Urbana. My wife, Sarojini, and I made a short but memorable trip to Kauai, along with our daughter, Vanaja. The first real visit came in 2004 when Sarojini and I were there for five days. Following the Siva homa on the first day, the flag raising ceremony took place to usher in the new season. As we were walking back, something clicked in my mind and I said spontaneously, “When in India you go to Kashi, when in America you go to Kauai! I read about the Dvadasa Jyotirlingas in India while creating the vision for the Champaign-Urbana temple project. I uttered those words because I felt that there was a modern Jyotirlingam in the 700-lb Maha Sphatika Lingam, presently in the Kadavul Temple and to be enshrined in the Iraivan Temple under construction!

During this trip, I really fell in love with the Aadheenam–the spirituality, the serenity, the ancient practices yet modern methods, the magnificence and yet simplicity, and so on. The inspiration began with three words: appreciation, meaning the act of being thankful for; admiration, meaning the act of regarding with wonder, esteem, and delight; and adoration, meaning the act or state of adoring, that is, worshiping, holding in reverence; and made me describe the experience and compose poems and mnemonics. I decided I should take my entire family of thirteen to Kauai to accomplish three things: (a) I wanted our six grandchildren to do namaskaram to the Nepalese Ganesha as they entered the Aadheenam one by one, and capture those moments; (b) I wanted them to capture in their minds the Iraivan Temple,  the temple for the generations being built by the monks for generations of children like them; and (c) I wanted them to be part of our donating to the cause of spiritual connection, by presenting a check to Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami during darshan with him.

The opportunity came with the 50th wedding anniversary of my wife and me on June 10, 2005. The entire family of thirteen, ranging in age from 5 to 70+ converged on Kauai from six different locations on the mainland and spent five days from June 7 to 11. Graciously, Bodhinatha moved the Siva homa day to June 10 from June 7. But more than celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary, the trip had to do with the legacy I wanted to leave behind for our six grandchildren through the experience of visiting the Aadheenam for establishing this spiritual connection. I succeeded in doing that by accomplishing all three things above.

In January 2007, my wife and I visited Rameswaram for the first time in our lives. While there, it occurred to me spontaneously that in Kauai Aadheenam, there is a parallel to Rameswaram. To go to Rameswaram from the mainland of India, you cross a bridge over water; to go to Kauai from the mainland of America, you take a flight over water, which in a way is like a bridge. This made me come up with the term Kauaiswaram, and the saying, “In India you go to Rameswaram at least once in your lifetime; in America you go to Kauaiswaram at least once in your lifetime!”

I can say I have taken my entire family of thirteen to “Kauaiswaram” at least once in my lifetime, which will be my ultimate legacy. As a reader of Hinduism Today, I hope that, whether you are in America or elsewhere, you will take your entire family on pilgrimage to “Kauiswaram” at least once in your lifetime! Aum Namah Sivaya!

Nannapaneni Narayana Rao and his wife, Sarojini
Urbana, Illinois

A space just opened up on our 2008 Asian Odyssey for 1 person (a male to share a double occupancy room with another male)

Here’s your chance to join Bodhinatha and this grand adventure.

If you are ready to go please e-mail Sadhaka Dandapani or call him at 808-822-3012, ext 239. It’s on a first come, first served basis, so don’t hesitate.

Please see our Innersearch website for more information.