Selvanathan Sthapati completed his stay here and had a final darshan meeting with Bodhinatha who presented him with a peacock as a gift.

END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming three-day retreat,
until Tritiya Tithi, Sun One, Friday, September 28th.

Come meet Bodhinatha in California this October! Two informal gatherings will be held to share the progress that has been made on our hand-carved Iraivan Temple and the various other areas that the monastery has been active in. At the end of each event there will be an opportunity for you to meet with Bodhinatha and share your questions, thoughts and inspirations with him.

The first event will be taking place on Saturday, Oct 6th in Newport Beach (Los Angeles area) and the second one on Sunday, Oct 7th in Palo Alto (San Francisco bay area). If you are interested in attending please
click here to email Sadhaka Dandapani for more details. Seats are limited and are based on first come, first serve.

Today was Selvanathan Sthapati’s last day at the Aadheenam. Here he is with the silpis. They have all been working very hard these past two weeks.

And we want to thank Sthapati for his dedicated work on Iraivan.

Click here to see the slide show about his stay here. And then watch a short movie below of a roof beam being placed on Iraivan.

Another great soul is here at the Aadheenam. Sabaratnam Sivacharya.

He’s working in our Cedar room on translations

“Ajitamahatantra” is one the Agamas in our library.

He does his work by hand. It is a painstacking and contemplative process to take these ancient scriptures and bring them into English.

Back to the Spiritual Park of Mauritius! Our series of photos for Ganesha Chaturthi celebration continues…. An elaborate powerful Ganesha Homa was performed for the occasion by the sivachariya.

Various offerings are ceremoniously sent into the sacred fire….

Hand-made clay Ganeshas to be later immersed into the ocean, have been placed at the altar for Blessings.

Traditional nadeswaram musicians made everyone feel being in the great temples of South India….

The final offerings into the Homa fire….

Thousands of written prayers were sent into the sacred homa on this auspicious occasion.

As the paper burns, the astral double appears in the Devaloka. The prayer is then read by the devas or angel beings, who proceed to carry our the devotee’s requests.

These temple devas are fully dedicated to assist all who come through the temple doors with their emotional, mental and physical problems.

Kulapati Manon delivered a Talk sent by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami….

The five shaktis of Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati flow to everyone present…..

Kumbas used during the ceremony…

The final arati…. The atmosphere around is suddenly charged and the darshan of the Lord is subtly felt…

After the arati and passing of the flame to the devotees, there is a little break for lunch. One of the food serving stations….

Another station attending to the long queues…

Devotees lined up outside …..

Devotees moving in and out of the food station tents …

Religious items on sale by the youth at one of the tables near the Mini Mela…

Later all devotees get back to the Mandapam for prayers and bajans. A parade is to leave for the ocean at 3.00 PM. The next phase of the day’s religious event is Ganesha Visarjana, the immersion of clay Ganeshas into the ocean…Watch TAKA for our next ocean episode coming soon…. Aum.