This is the Mahendran family from Perth, Australia. They are here on a pilgrimage.

Mahendran related in his email prior to arriving:

“I had the pleasure seeing Yoga Swami in Jaffna in his latest stage of his existence in 1960s. I also had the opportunity of seeing Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami when he visited Perth in 1990s.”

We had a big senior citizens group from the island towns of Kalaheo and Koloa come today.

Work continued all day in preparation for tomorrow’s concrete pour for the Nandi Mandapam

Deva Rajan and Yoginathaswami install thermal sensors which will monitor the chemical processes and heat of the slab.

Wet concrete is a chemically active mixture and heats up. One of the goals is to keep the temperatures as low as possible to allow the curing of the concrete to go slowly, which results in little or no cracking. By measuring the temperature in the first few days, we can see if it is necessary to take special measures to keep the slab cool with water, shade or coverings.

A mechanical screed has been installed that will move across the top of the slab and perform the job of causing the gravel “aggregate” to drop below the surface, bringing up the cement paste for a smooth finish.

This morning at 7am our photographer visited the worksite.

These are photos of the finished forms, ready for tomorrow’s Big Cement Pour.

The forms are four feet high.

This is the box that will create a hole in the foundation, where ultimately the kodimaram or temple flagpole will go.

This is the form that will house the stainless steel time capsule, which will be locked in the concrete for 1,000 years.

All is in readiness for Saturday morning. This will be a small bit of history for our island, the most cement ever poured in a single day!

Another visitor today.

Bodhinathaswami and Shanmuganathaswami met today with Stelter Company’s senior planned giving consultant, Johni Hayes. She was not able to see them during their visit with the Stelter team in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 8th. Vacationing on Maui this week, we invited her to fly over to Kauai for the day.

Johni was introduced to the graphics arts/publishing offices by Paramacharya Palaniswami. We wanted her to become familiar with who we are and what we do so that the Stelter team can help custom design various aspects of our giving program with Hindu Heritage Endowment.