Last evening we had the final rites of Skanda Shashti in a rare late-in-the-day homa and puja dedicated to Lord Muruga and his Vel.

The solid silver Vel presides….

Bhupendra and Devyani Shah’s 3rd day of pilgrimage at Kauai Aadheenam ended in grand style sitting up front at the homa with Bodhinatha celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary.

Bodhinatha also presented them with a shawl.

Despite their age they recently completed a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and now came to the Mount Kailash of the Pacific.

And after the grand puja to Muruga, Devyani said to one of the monks: “I have never felt so close to Siva!”

Bodhinatha puts a shawl for Suresh Mohan who is celebrating his 60th birthday and is here with his wife, Sulo and their son, Deepak, daughter-in-law Pavithra and granddaughter Preethi.

The abhishekam commences and Ceyonswami keeps the fire going…

All eyes are on Lord Muruga….

The abhishekam is a wondrous mystically uplifting event that has to be experienced to be known.

Milk, sandalwood, coconut water, panchamritam and many other offerings were made.

After the puja…

“The fourteen chakras have been described as a pole one must climb. The pole is heavily greased with ghee. It’s a slippery pole. Therefore, the helping hand of our loving Ganesha, who reaches down from the muladhara, is needed to lift up the aspirant. It’s the helping hand of Lord Murugan that reaches down from the anahata chakra, grabbing and lifting the devotee up. It is the helping hand of Siva that reaches down from the ajna chakra and lifts one up. One cannot do it alone. Total surrender to the Gods is the only way. Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, japa yoga is the way to attract their attention. The guru keeps the path in view, but he does not walk it for you.” –Gurudeva

“Murugan, Lord Of Yoga And Harmony”

— Dancing with Siva

“….Mahadeva Karttikeya, Son of Siva-Shakti, whose vel of grace dissolves the bondages of ignorance.”

Satsang and prasadam afterwards…

A joyful serenity and fulfillment in the air…

And a moment to talk with fellow devotees who you may never have met before…

On to today’s events…

There is a slack key guitar conference taking place on Kauai and as part of their day long broadcast over the radio to the entire nation the organizers have decided to share some of Kauai’s many wonderful cultures.

So, here is Judith interviewing Bodhinatha for the program. We will have a copy of the interview soon and have in on TAKA for you all to hear.

Suresh Mohan and family performing an abhishekam to the Narmada lingam earlier in the day.

Suresh’s son, Deepak Mohan, collecting the water from the lingam.

He said this is their first time here but certainly not their last.

The lady on the right wrote before arriving with her husband and guru..

” My name is Radhika Ambatipudi. My Husband and I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Kauai Hindu Temple in Dec 2001. This time, our Guruji Sri. N.V. Raghuramji, my husband Prabhu Ambatipudi and myself are visiting Kauai in November.”

“Raghuramji is the international coordinator of Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Kendra, Bangalore. Since 1978, he has been continuously taking yoga classes, conducting spiritual retreats and yoga therapy classes for various ailments. He has traveled several countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Srilanka, Japan, Turkey etc. In all these countries he has conducted several yoga classes. He has given several discourses on various Hindu philosophy topics such as the Upanishads, Bhagvad Geeta, Bhakti yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma Yoga.”

“His discourses are wonderful because he relates all these beautiful concepts to our day to day life. He has always shows us how to practice spirituality in our day to day lives. Above all, Raghuramji is a very simple and wonderful person and it is always a very pleasant experience to be with him.”

A good long meeting with Arumugaswami on the issues of the day as seen from th
e eyes of Hinduism Today.

It’s the last day of the phase and we had a huge group of over 50 people for the weekly tour.

From left: Sarah, Rahim, Rebecca & Kevin were part of our tour day group this morning. Sarah and Rahim are visiting from the mainland while Rebecca and Kevin live on the island. All four were very impressed by our all stone Iraivan temple.

Kevin is a scuba diver guide and here he is trying his hand at carving a stone. Shanmugam Sthapati had requested him to carve an elephant!

See you all next phase…

Aum Namasivaya!