26th January, 2009, 8.00am – The day was bright and plenty of sunshine.Youth Retreat kicked-off with registration of participants for youths between the ages of 6 and above. However,elders(parents)joined together with their children too.(Mrs Madhu and Devakumar mending at the registration booth).A total of 60 participants and 20 adults(youth at heart, nevertheless)registered.

Sharp at 9.00am, activitity started with an hour of Yoga exercise. Master Umamahesan conducted this session with explanation, after a brief welcoming speech.

Sun salutation posture!…inhale, pull your front body up, back body straight..

Breakfast being served after Yoga session.

Next, performing simple Ganesha Pooja.Youth brought their own little Ganesha from home and they were taught how to conduct Ganesha home pooja. A step by step explaination with mantra chanting and their meanings.

"Let anne show you how to do" this youth guides the younger kids while their parents watched enthusiastically.

The next game – Youth were divided into three groups and puzzle game relating to Ganesha were given to them to be completed as group effort.They enjoyed this game very much. The younger kids were given a less challenging work of connecting fixed dots outlining Ganesha's figure.

"Can uncle repeat the question?"

Greeting's in our traditional way! An interesting adaptation from Saivite Hindu Lesson book. Different group kids greets and says vannakam to each other. They're taught why we greet in this way and its significance.

2 members from each group were selected to memorise all the 16 names of Ganesha murthis surrounding inside the temple and will join their group to match-up the names with pictures given to them. A memory game and team effort work!

"We have done it''. All smiles and a happy picture after correctly identifying all the 16 Ganesha's murthi names in the temple.

Listening to talk on rudraksha and vibuthi. An enlightening session with slide show presentation. Number of questions were asked about rudraksha and one of the questions was, "Can girls wear rudraksha?" Of course they got a positive answer from Master Umamahesan, "Yes! You can"

Lets go to temple! Another interesting game, where number human cicles are formed with Ganesha in the center. Giving an idea of how temple outflows positive shaktis to devotees. Here the 5 shaktis of Ganesha rushes towards the devotee when he/she visits a Ganesah temple.

Temple Chairman,Dato Balakrishnan Sinniah gave away momentos to the youths, Ganesha sticker and Rudraksha beads at end of the Youth Retreat program. A lively non-stop activities that had really moved the youths hearts to come to temple and appreciate our religion and culture better and for a change, the program is an eye opener for many, in that they realized this was far better way to get them involved in our religion – a paradigm shift!

The religiously educational, joyful and funfilled day comes to an end at 3.30pm.A group picture as a memory. All of them wanted to have more of this, as at the end, many of the youths requested,"Can we have this once a month?" Indeed a rousing success. Jai Ganesha!

Today at Kauai Aadheenam it seems like all the planets moved into constellation “Dynamic Activity” all at once. On the roster was a dry day bringing the much-awaited cement pour of Iraivan’s roof, a visit by Sadhaka Tejadevanatha’s father and sister, more pilgrims arriving for Sivaratri, a bus load of Patels who are attending a conference of hoteliers on Oahu, and then flew to Kauai to visit the temple, interviews by Pacific Journal reporter and photographer doing a story on the monastery and temple and a mini-milestone on the railing of the North Chinna-Gopuram, and also the pouring of the cement for the Anna Purna Gardens Ganesha. And especially bright for today: some good news from Sri Lanka!

While the war continues in Sri Lanka, in Batticaloa the Thirunavukkarasu Nayanar Gurukulam remains intact and continues it’s service. We bring you today a slide show (click here or on the photo) where the orphans perform the time honored tradition of Annadanam: feeding of the poor.

Brahmacharini Shama Kumara hosts Umapathi and Geetha Cattamanchi who have arrived from Chicago on their first visit to the Aadheenam and will also happily remain here for Mahasivaratri. They are longtime subscribers to Hinduism Today which they thoroughly enjoy.

Geetha and Umapathi rest briefly overlooking the Wailua River. They both feel the “peacefulness of this sacred place and are so happy they came,”

Umapathi remembers meeting Gurudeva when he visited Chicago in the 1970’s. At that time there was some indecision regarding the type of Hindu temple within that community. They wisely sought Gurudeva’s advise. He graciously gifted a granite Lord Ganesha to them, and now they have a magnificent temple “Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago.”

Visiting pilgrims, Gaurav and Ripla Malhotra arrive back after visiting the Iraivan Temple. Their baby son, Aran, however is catching up on some sleep after his long journey from Chicago. They have come regularly these past few years and little Aran has been getting an annual dose of Siva Shakti. Lucky boy!

More pilgrims arrive to celebrate Mahasivaratri. On the right is Ashit and Sonel with daughter Aasha who flew in from Portland, Oregon to be with Ashit’s parents (Praful and Jayshree Patel) who arrived from Canada yesterday. Also visiting during this auspicious time is Dr. Manoj Kulkarni and his wife Meera Deo from Irvine, CA

All the excitement today is at the temple where the long-awaited cement pour of the root of Iraivan was done. We had put it off as long as we could and all prayers for clear weather seem to have worked as we had a cool overcast sky that only sprinkled for 1 minute all morning.

The cement truck and pump truck are in place and the pour begins.

The silpis had previously installed cement screed rails across the top of the roof stones.

This made the leveling job very easy for the cement team.

This is the first of many layers to come in an intricate process of making the roof of Iraivan leak-proof with proper drainage and a long trouble-free future.

While the cement work is under way the silpis continue their steady work on the temple. Today features the placement of the center ornamental stone of the North Chinna Gopuram railing.

The work was straight forward, but exacting as always: carve a hole into the top of the railing to fit the little capstone.

Rajendran, Manikandan, and Pandi display the completed rail between the Northern Gopuram Lion Pillars. It looks very special.

Sadhaka Tejadevanatha’s father, Chuck Baumann and sister Ashley arrived for a visit. They could not have picked a more auspicious day. Sadhaka Tejadevanatha is an integral part of the Siddhidata Kulam team that is building the temple along with the silpis. Sadhaka’s father is very proud to see first hand the work his son is doing.

Yoginathaswami explains the intricacies of the construction. Chuck is in the business of doing large scale and beautifully designed high end “water features” construction ranging from fancy swimming pools to intricate pools and fountains integrated into marvelous landscapes and residential designs. As a building artisan he can really apprecaite the work going on here.

Ashley is an up-and-coming young associate producer working for the renowned reality show production company, DuBose Entertainment, Hollywood, California.

A new high end documentary type magazine called “Pacific Journal” published from Kauai, which is documenting the history and culture of the Pacific islands and their peoples, has decided to do an article on Iraivan and the monastery. Here is photographer George Brown on the left and reporter Luke Shannahan with Sivakatirswami and Chidambaram Sthapati. They have a tour of the temple and later a long interview with Paramacharya Palaniswami.

This artwork was recently gifted by a visitor named Shona. The original art is 6 feet high and depicts what she saw and experienced during her first visit to Iraivan Temple in 2005. Shona was born in India to British parents and now lives in seclusion on a hilltop in Georgia, where she spends most of her time in meditation and drawing these beautiful mandalas.

Today's weekly tour brought over 80 guests to Siva's beautiful botanical gardens at Kauai Aadheenam. Before walking out to see the gardens and temple, Kulamata Amala Seyon explains details of Iraivan Temple project at the sandalwood model and photo display.

Guests observe the silpis fitting the floor stones and handrail on the North end of the temple.

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Group photos of our visitors.

Because of the large groups coming for the weekly tour, the silpis give two carving demonstrations so visitors can see the work up close.

This family is visiting from San Diego, CA where they have Hindu friends that have explained aspects of Hinduism

This couple came to see the progress after their last visit three years ago. They were impressed with the temple progress.

The always awe inspiring green jade flower in full bloom.