Sun Three and it’s ashram sadhana day at the Aadheenam…. all monks out about about cleaning and working on upgrades here and there.

Stepping back to yesterday. It was tour day and we had over 160 people! The first tour had 100 or more and the second one was also huge.

Sarla Patil and husband from Mountain View, California.

They had wanted to get married at our temple but found out that is not possible because we are a monastery, so they married at Houston, Texas Meenakshi Temple and are now taking a belated honeymoon to Kauai to visit our monastery.

They’ve been wanting to come for a while because she and her parents have read Hinduism Today for a long time. Bodhinatha gave them a wedding shawl gift and also a gift of What is Hinduism book after they asked for guidance in their new married life.

A lovely group of visitors arrived for the 9:00 a.m. Abishekam and were then taken on a tour of the Iraivan Temple.

Our little group in front of the beautiful hand-carved granite Ganesha, (even the umbrella is carved out of the one piece of granite!)

Manikandan and Chelliah show on paper what they are about to draw and then carve above the Sanctum doorway “Siva Siva” in Tamil.

Newly weds Manish and Gita Shah, who plan to make their new home in Brooklyn N.Y., both feel that it was an “unexpected special blessing” to have attended the puja this morning and to see the building of this most sacred Iraivan Temple in progress.

Pravin and Varsha DeSai and Vinay and Mira Khanderia from Toronto, Canada were “very happy” and felt very privileged to be here. “Who would have thought there would be such a temple in Hawaii?” Vinay said. “Its wonderful!”

Gita Shah was only too happy to show the beautiful Mendhi patterns on her hands from her wedding ceremony just two days ago. “They only last about two weeks” Gita said. She also had them on her feet.

Within a matter of minutes Manikandan and Chelliah had copied “Siva Siva” from paper to stone. Next step is to carve this on the granite stone.

Little Arvind was totally fascinated by the stone in the Lion’s mouth and rolled it around and around and around for quite some time.

Surrounded by our Super Silpis, here are Kanchare and Sridhar with their two little ones, Arvind and Shruti. All originally from Chennai and now living in Sunnyvale, CA. Asked what he thought of the Iraivan Temple, Kanchare replied “unbelievable!”

Finally after much planning, the long awaited upgrades to the Aadheenam septic systems are underway.

The first is at the Information center office. The original system here was 50 years old! Now replaced with state of the art septic system. It looks like Grand Canyon in front of the office.

Today Sadhu Paksha Ended and this morning the flag was raised for the start of Nartana Ritau. Bodhinatha smiles joyously after the bright orange flag is raised.

Our members sit waiting for the parade to the flag pole.

The ornate handle of the conch that is blown.

The photos speak for themselves.

We take this opportunity as has been traditional on TAKA to bring you excerpts from the Saiva Dharma Shastras on the Nartana Ritau.

112 Introduction

Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind–the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva’s life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

114 The First Season: Nartana Ritau

Nartana Ritau, the season of Dancing with Siva, begins on Hindu New Year. This is the period of creation, the warm season, from mid-April through mid-August. The teaching is Dancing with Siva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, Sivena Saha Nartanam. This foundational text is featured in all mission satsangas. The key word of this season is planning. The colors are orange, yellow-gold and all shades of green– orange for renunciation, yellow-gold for action, and green for regeneration. High above, the main Hindu flag flies the color orange, heralding the Nartana Ritau throughout this season, symbolizing sadhana and self-control. The other colors adorn smaller flags. This is the season of giving special attention to those in the grihastha ashrama. It is a time of awakening, renewal, review. The emphasis is on seeing ahead, planning for future years. It is a time of planning retreats and other activities for youths and adults for the entire year. The practical focus is completion of unfinished projects. Secular holidays to observe among the families include Mother’s Day in May, Father’s Day in June and Grandparent’s Day in August. The special dietary adjustments for the season come into effect and new menus are established. New clothing is issued and old garments mended. This season of harvest and new growth is also the time to review and reestablish picking and planting routines for the gardens. It is a time for ordering seeds and plants for the year, of planting trees, fragrant vines and the annual crop.

115 The Sadhanas of the First Season

The daily sadhana is the Sivachaitanya Panchatantra: experiencing nada, jyoti, prana, shakti and darshana. In Sanskrit, it is a time of learning new shlokas and mantras. In the family community, prashnottara satsanga is held for one and all to attend. Families plan for their annual pilgrimage. Shrine rooms are renewed and redecorated for the year, and the clothing of all is renewed in the Hindu style of the current fashion. It is a time of doing things for others, religious outreach. In the missions, Nartana Ritau is the time of bringing in new students and Church members. It is a time of hatha yoga and philosophical teaching.

116 Festivals and Realms of the First Season

The main festival of Nartana Ritau is Guru Purnima. The mathavasis hold special conclave on Vaikasi Vishakham, the full moon day of May. The three Aadheenam realms of the season are: 1) Rishi Valley with its secluded Guru Hut and parampara shrines on the banks of Rishi Valley’s Saravanabhava Lake; 2) Wailua Farm, with its pastures, orchards and gardens; and 3) Kadavul Koyil, with its Guru Temple, entry gardens, Banyan Pavilion, Tiruneri path, sacred tank and its Puakenikeni and Mango Mandapams.

396 Seasonal Changes for Satsangas

The format of the satsanga changes slightly three times per year in accordance with the three climatic seasons experienced on the Garden Island of Kauai. The three seasons are: Nartana Ritau from mid-April to mid-August, Jivana Ritau from mid-August to mid-December and Moksha Ritau from mid-December to mid-April. Each season emphasizes one of the three great books of the Kailasa Parampara. Also, during each ritau, a different group is honored: those in the grihastha ashrama during Nartana Ritau, those in vanaprastha ashrama during Jivana Ritau, and those in the sannyasa ashrama during Moksha Ritau. All satsangas begin and end on time and last for approximately three hours.

The Nartana Ritau Flag is hoisted, a brand new one.

This is also the Hindu New Year by the astrological calendar when the Sun moves into the sign of Mesha (Aries)

Happy New Year!

Bodhinatha gives the silpis a new year gift.

Sites and scenes on the walk back to the main Aadheenam buildings.

Oh, Puli has something he wants to say to you all.

“Welcome to the Nartana Ritau. Let me remind you all that the Prime Directive for all Homo Sapiens is to care for nurture, feed, brush, stroke, rub the backs and bellys of and generally see to the welfare and happiness of the Feline Race. This is your first and foremost duty in life.”

Sadhu Paksha continues….

We want to thank all those who responded so quickly and generously to the call for donations to add more gold to the avudaiyar base of Iraivan’s Maha Sphatika Lingam. For more information see the Iraivan donations page.

Brahmacharini Shama Kumaran took some guests today out to Iraivan temple. Jasmi and Bob Graham from Naaleho on the Big Island and Bob’s sister, Bonnie Lynn from San Juan Capistrano, CA. What a beautiful day it was too!

Jasmi is a Balinese Hindu and she and Bob travel periodically to their other home in Bali. Jasmi said she “loved every aspect of the Iraivan Temple” and definitely wants to return to Kauai to visit this temple again. “Its so beautiful and peaceful ” she said.

Artwork from Dancing with Siva by S. Rajam. Atmartha Sivalinga puja in the home shrine.

Sadhu Paksha continues.

The big news today has to do with the future of the giant Mahaspatika Sivalingam that is now resting quietly in Kadavul temple.

~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dasami Tithi, Sun One, Thursday, April 12th.

As we all know the future of the lingam will be
in the sanctum of the Iraivan temple.

The base
of the Swayambhu Lingam that will grace Iraivan’s innermost
sanctum is shown here in black granite, but in actuality it
will be in Panchaloka, the traditional five metals.

Here are drawings of the yoni base and today we have news from India.

This came today:

“Revered Paramacharya Ceyonswamy,

Vanakkam,

I am happy to enclose herewith the pictures that we took when the avudayar model was transported and numbered to commence the skeletal work for the wax moulding purpose ceremoniously at Swamimalai. Once the wax moulding comes to a good shape we will again send the pictures for rev Swamy’s kind perusal.

With our humble namaskarams to Rev H.H. Satguru Bothinathar Swamigal and to all Rev Acharya Swamis,

thanking you,

yours sincerely,

Sthapati Selvanathan”

A very special thanks goes out to two generous and anonymous donors who are funding the bronze base (avudaiyar) for the Iraivan Crystal Lingam. It will weigh 1,500 kilograms and be cast in varying proportions of copper, iron and brass with a small amount of silver and gold (Five Metals or Panchaloga.)

The first step is a two-month process of making a wax model. Then the model will be covered with packed earth (creating a mold) and allowed to dry for at least a month. Molten metal is then poured into the mold displacing the wax to create a duplicate of the original wax model in metal. This is known as the “lost wax” method of metal sculpture.

The sponsors of the avudayar base are offering to allow anyone who would like to participate, to add more gold to the mix to make it better conductor of shakti. This will increase the percentage of gold which is presently a very small amount. Please see the donations page for details.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/ssc/hawaii/iraivan/donate/donate_iraivan.shtml

Iraivan from the North East from up in a tree?

Meanwhile an electronic mouse has found his way onto one of our new screens! Yikes!

He loves to eat colors and make things just right.

Calibration may take several hours.

For more information on the exciting 2008 Asian Odyssey please click here to visit the website.

And a slide show below to close this TAKA for this phase.

Sadhu Paksha continues….

Dr. Jane A Kappel who is on the Learning Support Faculty at CSU Fresno arrived today with a family friend Al Cadarette. Jane is a very sweet soul who has done extensive work with the National Aids Program and is instrumental in teaching and advising in this capacity.

She is a close friend of Attorney, Alvin Buchigiani who has known Gurudeva and Bodhinatha Veylan Swami, and the Aadheenam Swamis for many many years.

Jane found her entire experience in Kadavul Temple and the Iraivan Temple to be “truly wonderful and very spiritually uplifting.”

An old friend of the monastery, a master craftsman who actually built parts of the monastery 30 years ago, Mark Harms, visited recently having seen on the internet that we were looking for a wood lathe. He generously donated one of his old wood lathes that is in perfect working order.

We have always wanted to make our own bowls, Ma Rollers and many other things that can only be done on a wood lathe.

Paramacharya Palaniswami’s regular “timelapse” shot to document the progress of Iraivan from the west side of the temple. He has been taking snaps from this venue for years and we will have a visual history of the temple from the days when it was just a foundation with a few stones.

Meanwhile we found Lord Ganesha relaxing while reading Merging with Siva. He’s already walked around his Mom and Dad, ate the mango and is catching up on his Master Course study while Lord Muruga is still flying around the earth, somewhere over Indonesia perhaps by now…

Sadhu Paksha continues… quietly.

One of S. Rajam’s exquisite pieces. A young couple comes for darshan and consultation with a sadhu.

An expert trainer and teacher of Adobe Creative Suite applications, Sandee Cohen, meets with Bodhinatha after having given a group of monks 3 hours of training each morning for two days.

Sandee was teaching in Honolulu, and she generously accepted an invitation to come teach for just the cost of a plane ticket and lodging on Kauai.

To find out more check out her resume on the web.

Everyone is gathered to hear revelations about key workflows and magical tips in InDesign, which is the program we use to do the page layout of our many publications.

Sandee is also experienced in building interactive PDFs, and she gave us a lot of pointers on additions we can make to the Hinduism Today Digital Edition.

A mid-morning break… and trip to see San Marga sites.

Sandee is a bright, energetic, outspoken, gentle-hearted and most importantly, a super effective teacher. She solved a number of knotty problems and offered new solutions for our work in publications that only a good teacher can do.

Even the most obscure work flows suddenly become clear and memorable after Sandee shows you how to tackle them.

She is of course a Macintosh wizard as well.

Paramacharya Palaniswami gives her some gifts and honors her with a shawl at the end of today’s session before she left for New York.

Thank you, Sandee! You are truly a marvelous teacher!

A beautiful statue of Lord Ganesha that greets visitors at the Banyan Mandapam…

The April 1st Ganesha Homa at our center in Mauritius was largely attended by devotees who came early to have not only a place close to the deity but also to find a good parking. With the large number of vehicles coming at the Park, it is not easy to find parking space on both sides of the road.

Devotees, mostly ladies sit inside…

In the mean time time other devotees are coming with offerings to be offered to Lord Ganapati!

Our professional guest singer from Plaines Wilhems is more than happy to entertain us on these occasions with uplifting Ganesha songs.

Meanwhile devotees outside enjoy the songs being aired on loudspeakers…

All shady spots are occupied…

A large group of devotees are worshipping at the small Ganesha shrine where the coconuts are broken.

Members and students are there to give a helping hand, taking the trays from devotees and placing the offerings at the Feet of Lord Ganapati.

A view of the amount of devotees at this small shine ….

The Ganesha Mandapam …….

On the left side of the Mandapam….

The Homa is going on and as usual hundreds of prayers are being burnt.

This gentleman has composed a poem on Lord Ganapati which he is sharing with everyone present.

Kulapati Manon Mardemootoo giving a talk from an insight page of Hinduism Today.

Everyone listens in silence.

Devotees stand up for the final arati.

One of our membership youth offering the sacred flame to devotees.

The ceremony is over. Kumaren is taking care of the PA system equipment.

How do we count the crowd? Easy: 2,000 plates of prashadam were served.

Sadhu Paksha continues…. quietly.

Down at the Pillaiyar Kulam, Dharmaraj has become a shutter bug! That’s good for TAKA, which is always looking for new input. Here is Shanmuganathaswami, Talaivar for the PK, he manages an enormous responsibility: Hindu Heritage Endowment, Hinduism Today Subscriptions, international book distribution, our cows, dairy farm and milk production, all the storage arrangements for books and religious supplies at the Aadheenam… that’s just the tip of his ice berg of duties.

Yogi Jivanandanatha is our accountant and “chief information officer” and handles all the corporate accounting, budget, reports for the stewards for all our corporations. He does database programming to streamline all the accounting procedures and has been under close training by Bodhinatha for the past six years. This past year he has been able to do more and more of the work entirely on his own, which is a great accomplishment.

Outside the Siddhidata Kulam, Sadhaka Tejadevanatha and Task Forcer Nandi are hard at work on their “routines.”

We live in a jungle and one must continuous work to keep the living matter from taking over the grounds and buildings.

Trimming back major overgrowth is a never ending task.

They have that Kawasaki Mule piled up high!

OK, just a few more branches and then off to the organic dump site.

A very happy Tamil family from Phoenix, Arizona pose with Chelliah, one of our super Silpis, at the Iraivan Temple site.

From the left is Sadha Sivam with his bright-eyed little 2 yr old daughter “Sruti,” his wife Shyla, her sister Subashni, and her mother and father, Gangabi and Ganesan. Sadha Sivam acts as the Assistant Priest at the Ganesha Temple in Phoenix and works with SSC member, Erasenthiran Poojolai.

Sadha “loved” the Iraivan Temple. He is “very very happy to be here” and is “highly impressed with the spiritual power of the Kadavul Temple and of the whole place.” His family agreed whole heartedly.

Mary Sequoia Hamilton, her 10 yr old son Sky, and Ben Powell were taken on a tour of the Iraivan Temple today. Mary and Ben are from Ojai, California and are the publishers and editors of a magazine called “Awaken” which promotes global environmental issues, higher consciousness, health and travel. They also own a travel agency and are currently promoting a “spiritual cruise” to Kauai next year.

Sadhu Paksha continues and we are back on TAKA after a three-day retreat. On Star 3, the monthly Chitra was held. Here is Bodhinatha, seated and receiving devotees. Kulapati Deva Seyon has been helping one of Iraivan strong supporters to purchase a house here in the Wailua Homesteads.

It has been a challenge because they live in Hong Kong! The deal finally went through and the family wanted the keys to be first presented to Bodhinatha and Gurudeva.

Yogi Japendranatha

and Sadhaka Dandapani are the pujaris today.

Below is a video of the pada puja.

Now a few shots to test the fixed lens Nikon camera (it has no zoom, you have to physically move to frame compose your shot.

If you wanted to order a small but not too small bell you might go on the web and click to order a 9″ bell, thinking that’s not too tall.

Well Palaniswami did just that and he was delivered this gigantic, incredible artifact, where the *diameter* of the bell is nine inches. With an incredibly intricate top and change and the whole things weighs in about 50 pounds!

It is schedule to go to Kadavul one day.

The trident symbol of Lord Siva as Bhairava, on the left side of the doors inside Kadavul.