Today is Sun Four and our computer upgrade went well. Everyone transitioned to new computers and a new server. Its a testimony to Apple Computer that and entire organization upgraded to completely a new hardware platform, systems, migrating all data from the old machines, in virtually less than 16 man hours. Servers are back up and running and we are able bring you TAKA again.

Today was the Siddhidata Kulam report and the big news is from Iraivan where major logistical planning is underway as slowly the pillars are coming into place an navigation by forklift will be more and more challenging if not impossible. More news on that below.

Welcome to Sadhaka Dandapani who completed his first Sojourn in the world as a Sadhaka. He served with Search Beyond Adventures as a tour guide and then went on pilgrimage to India, a short visit with his family and now he is back on the Ekadanta Kulam team and his Talaivar, Saravananathaswami is soooo! happy to have him back. Sadhaka is already hard at work on the advanced detailed planning of the next innersearch. (click for more…) It’s one you cannot miss!

At Iraivan our silpis begged to have the honor of placing the Namasivaya steps that lead into the main sanctum.

Final placement will not be done until a sthapati is on site.

These are very exquisitely carved steps.

…. one for each of the Five Sacred Syllables Na Ma Si Va Ya, in Tamil.

Yoginathaswami explained that soon stones of the front entry way to Iraivan will be place and he will not longer be able to take the fork lift into the temple. So everyone is thinking hard about what needs to be delivered into the interior now. The main items will be the sand under fill and some floor stones.

A lovely Tamil family arrived today from Tampa, Florida, originally from Chennai.

Krishnaswami “Kris” Siddharthan, his wife Renuka, and their son Trishul who is about to enter Medical School.
They have all of Gurudeva’s books and are longtime subscribers of Hinduism Today.

Posing with Paramacharya Palaniswami and Sivakatirswami.

Renuka happily confided to Paramacharya Palaniswami that Gurudeva’s books had helped her to raise her son.

Trishul met and talked with Gurudeva who invited him to come to the Aadheenam for a visit at some future time.

From another camera.. Shama has the temple steps story. The blue-black granite steps of the Sanctum which read “Na Ma Si Va Ya” are carefully put in place today by our super team of shilpis. At foot of steps are (L/R) Veylansami, Karupiah and Chelliah, and above is Manikandan, Rajendran and Pandi.

Supervising this all-important project is Yoginathaswami (not in picture).

One more step is being prepared for placement to complete the entire sacred Mantram.

The doorway of the sanctum is also exquisitely and ornately hand-carved blue-black granite.

The granite rails beside the sacred steps are also beautifully carved.

Yoginathaswami poses in the entrance of this awesomely beautiful temple with the Siddharthan family.

Trishul found the carved wonders of the Iraivan Temple to be “unbelievable” to include this blue-black granite chain handcarved by our silpis in India.

A different view of the Iraivan Temple from the lotus ponds.

Bodhinatha at yesterday’s Sun One morning in the temple.

Today at lunch from Saravananathaswami:

He and his helpers are continuing in the massive project of digitizing all the paper in the entire office. Years of forms, files for members and students that fill many filing cabinets are being digitized for long term storage and easy of access. There is always the on-going advanced coordination of pilgrims and future visitors and future events in far off places later in the year.

We are also happy to have Sadhaka Dandapani back from his Sadhaka Sojourn in the World…

(right to left) Tony Kilbert, Head of the Drama Theater of the Kauai Community College arrived this morning with a friend from the mainland. That’s Carlos Santana, in the middle, the internationally renowned musician, whose music has brought so much positive energy to rock fans for over 3 decades. Carlos who has always worked to try to make his music be a channel for a higher spiritual force of upliftment. When the world of rock and roll went “to the dark side” Carlos kept steering toward the light.

He was much uplifted by his visit to the monastery and Iraivan temple. He talked with some the monks. None of whom knew who he was until Yogi Japendra’s mother Vicki said: “You know… that was *the* Carlos Santana.” She has all of his music in her collection at home.

Also visiting is “Max” who is a friend of longtime devotee Deva Rajan. All enjoyed the morning abhishekam and a tour of the Iraivan Temple.

A spontaneous tour was given to another small group of visitors.

(Left to right) Neil and Patricia Seidel from Palm Springs. (Neil is another well-known guitarist.) Ashesh and Anjeli Agrawal from Peusacola, Florida and Srinivas and Jaya Pathapati with Leaha (age 10) and Deepak (age 5) from Amarillo, Texas.

Ashesh stated that “this temple is unbelievably beautiful and the darshan of Kadavul very powerful.”

More photos from yesterday’s homa that speak for themselves.

Sun One today started a new phase with a lot of dynamic activity. It was tour day, unpacking new computer equipment on our once-every-two-years hardware upgrade.

Meanwhile on a serious note: the Veeragatiyar family in Germany, long
time devotees of the Kailasa Parampara, have informed us that their
beloved son, Nirmalan, who struggled for many years with some physical
challenges, finally went to Siva’s feet. The family would like to inform
everyone and request prayers on Nirmalan’s behalf for an auspicious
passage into his next stage of spiritual evolution.

Nirmalan, fearlessly aware that his time was short in
this world, shared with us when he was a teenager visiting Kauai Aadheenam some years back, that he planned to become a monk in his next birth. He knew the soul is deathless, and he lived every moment of his life in a deep love of God and Guru.

Dr. Danie Beaulieu called us from Quebec province, Canada, a few days ago and asked to come meet us and register for our Asian Odyssey 2008 innersearch travel-study program. Yes, she came some 6,000 miles, to do just that–and she did. She is a world-class psychologist, quite a happy and radiant soul and will be a bright presence among our bright innersearchers. Her visit was her first close experience of Hinduism and she was delighted with the discovery. “I am so transformed by just three visits, it leaves to wonder what my innersearch experience may be.” Information on this January 2008 innersearch is available here, and you may contact us for information by emailing innersearch@hindu.org

Danie met with Sivanadiyar Dharmaraj and Sadhaka Jothinatha when she visited our little Minimela book shop just before departing the island. She bought Gurudeva’s entire trilogy. She’d had a small taste of the trilogy and was, again, so deeply and immediately transformed, she felt she could not leave without the entire set. “I wanted to be sure to take all three books with me. I want them with me everywhere, in my home, along with me on my travels so I can look at them, touch them and read them constantly. I want to show this to others and share it with them.”

It was tour day today… The morning visitors trail all along the Pali path on their way to the Iraivan Temple with Sadhaka Satyanatha.

From many different countries and all walks of life, and with varied religious backgrounds, they are all one happy peaceful group of souls today under the canopy of the iraivan Temple.

Surrounded by the second group of visitors, Karupiah happily poses with a Hindu family (center) who live near where the Iraivan stones are quarried outside Bangalore, India.

We had our Iraivan morning this past Sunday and invited the task forcers to join us.

The “Rudraksha Machine” goes into full swing. The ladies handle the jewerly making side of operations

The men work on bead preparations. Here is Tandu Sivanathan.

Robin Jesse mounting beads in preparation for sand blasting.

Teja also mounting beads.

Joe doing the same.

We asked our three task force guests to share their stories of what brought them to Kauai Aadheenam and Bodhinath to serve. We were all inspired to listen to their stories, each unique and powerful.

NOTE! We are sorry too report that all the images from here to the end were mysteriously deleted due to a some network issues that may have come up due to our computer upgrade. (for *nix nerds: mv /taka/images/*.jpg /www/www.himalayanacademy.com/httpdocs/taka/past/2007/March/ etc… this cmd failed to actually move all the files… leaving the source directory empty, and destination directory only partially complete… a gremlin…”)

Durvasa gave our monthly report which reflects consistently strong sales for the Rudraksha malas, earrings, key chains, etc. We had a wonderful lunch prepared by the ladies.

One interesting note is that we have a large valley to the North of our home where a pair of peacocks live. We might not see them for weeks on end but when they do show up in the yard it there is almost always something auspicious happening (It never ceases to amaze me!). Just as the young taskforcers started telling their story of finding their way to Kauai Aadheenam I could here the peacocks coming from out of the valley.

They came and climbed right on the fence and called to us.

Two visitors from Sri Lanka who were invited to attend a Tamil conference in Mauritius last week are leaving tonight. They insisted to visit Panchamuka Ganapathi before going back home. The lady is the Mrs Sivanandini Duraiswamy; her husband was Yogendra (he has passed on). They were two of Yogaswami’s most dedicated shishyas. You may read some of Yogaswami letters to Yogendra when he was young, the letters and prose sections of Yogaswami’s writings.

Shishya Koomaren Moorooven is hosting visitors today, cleaning around Panchamuka Ganapathi.

The new pathway to Ganesha Mandapam

Devotees visiting Lord Muruga this Sunday

Karma Yogis adding a fresh coat of paint to hand rails. The sea water easily damages the metal rails so they need regular maintenance.

We have some very valuable bamboo plants , this variety produces the biggest bamboo

Another variety of bamboo plants which resisted the recent cyclonic winds.

Meanwhile in another corner of the property new guest restrooms are being built.

Today is Sun Six, the last day of a long and very productive phase. Bodhinatha has completed the work on the 12 “Mamsane” comprising a set of Shum meditations for each month. The booklet will go into production now for use by his sishya.

~~~~~~~~~~~
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, Tuesday, March 13th.

Today we share more pictures of Sivayogapathy who is the son of one of Siva Yogaswami’s closest devotees.

In the early years after Yogaswami began guiding devotees, satsangs were held in people’s homes. In 1950, Yogaswami instructed Thillaiambalam, Sivayogapathy’s father, to purchase land and build the Sivathondan Niliyam.

Sivayogapathy, when asked what teaching in particular did you receive from Yogaswami, said that what was taught, in so many unspoken ways, was the spirit of service, karma yoga, Sivathondu. He observed that among the devotees, from wealthy, high-class ladies, professionals and dignitaries all the way to the poorest devotees, Yogaswami instilled in everyone the spirit of selfless service. The dedication of their time, money and energy in so many ways to feed the poor, conduct the traditional Hindu festivals and take care of each other.

We bring you a 10 minute excerpt from the hour-long interview in which Sivayogapathy shared his life and times with the great sage of Jaffna.

Another unusual project is underway which is granite carvings of the line of gurus. In order to give the sculptor a good image we will be taking pictures of Bodhinatha from various vantage points.

Task Forcer Robin Jesse has been commissioned to serve as a model to check the lighting in the Gurupeedam from different angles.

Brahmacharini Shama Kumaran hosted Sachiko Kasahara who is here for four days visiting. She lives just outside Tokyo and heard about the sacred all white granite hand-carved Hindu Temple.

Sachiko did not believe the turquoise jade was real and had to touch it to be sure it was.

The lion pillars with the carved ball inside the mouth, “was it put there?” some ask.

Iraivan’s Inner Sanctum which will be lit up using optic fiber and the rays of the sun.

Sachiko beside a pillar with the carved image of Siva Nataraja, the Primal Soul, representing God Siva’s five powers of creation, preservation, dissolution, concealing grace of Tirodhana Shakti, and revealing grace of Anugraha Shakti.

Sivayogapathy and his wife Rukmin, originally from Jaffna, Sri. Lanka and now residing in Toronto, Canada are both here on pilgrimage for several days.

Today, their last day at the Aadheenam, they met with Bodhinatha. Sivayogapathy’s father, one of Yogaswami’s closest devotees, built the Sivathondan Nilayam in Jaffna. Sivayogapathy grew up with Yogaswami constantly in his life.

We recorded a video of his Yogaswami stories this morning.

After several weeks of very dry weather, the skies “cut loose” today with a full day of rain….

Yesterday Brahmacharini Shama hosted our pilgrims for a tour and learned some more interesting information from our guest to share.

Sivayogapathy knew and served Siva Yogaswami as a young boy until Yogaswami’s Mahasamadhi, as did his father, Thillaiampalam, and his father’s uncle, Saravanamuthu, who first met Siva Yogaswami in the late 1920’s

While here he has translated Sat Siva Guru Bodhinatha’s talk into Tamil and also for Paramacharya Palaniswami he documented his own family’s history with Siva Yogaswami from the 1920’s for the Aadheenam Archives.

Rukmin took an afternoon trip down to the waterfall . .

and to the Wailua River.

Both were really over joyed to finally experience the Aadheenam and compared Kadavul Temple’s vibration to that of Chidambaram.

The late rays of the afternoon sun cascade over the Palani Deity in the garden adding to the spiritual beauty of the deity.

Tracy and her mother Takako Ogihara and Derek Wong (who are neighbors) visited the Aadheenam for the first time and were taken on a tour of the Iraivan Temple and grounds. . . .

. . . and the famous Bali Hai Waterfalls.

We bring you more photos of the March Ganesha Homa at the Spiritual Park attended by some 2000 devotees from all over the island.

The devonic helpers of the inner worlds, though unseen to the physical eyes, are skilled in the art of fulfilling prayers burnt into the Homa fire .

Brahmachari Vel Mahalingum giving a testimony on tidiness at the Park after the cyclone.

The final arati…

Devotees on their way to he food stations stop at the Siva Dakshina murthi to worship Lord Siva.

The crowd moving on to the far end of the property

Everyone partakes the blessed lunch….

The sea breeze blowing over the place makes it ideal for a picnic

Every month volunteers come up to sponsor food at the Ganesha Homa. They take care of all the cooking and serving.

Here is one of this Sunday’s food sponsors…… Miss Artee from Goodlands, a barrister and an enrolled Master Course student.

The ceremony over it is time for cleaning up the Mandapam and the small Ganapati Shrine. Here are Ananda and Bala at the small shrine lovingly doing their seva.

Kulapati Manon Mardemootoo talking to some visitors from Holland.

It is Sun Four of a 6-day phase and the Siddhidata Kulam reported on their activities today. The big news is that Sadhaka Nilakantha has departed for his official “Sojourn In The World” which is part of the monastic program for young monks who are on the sadhaka path, during their first twelve years. Every four years they leave the monastery for 6 months or more and live under their monastic vows, but out in the world. During this time they are under the Guru’s direction and endeavor to maintain the monastic sadhana no matter where they are. After they complete this “tapas” three times they can remain in the monastery “forever.”

This is Sadhaka Nilakantha’s second sojourn in the world. He is going to go live and serve at the famed “Archosanti” project where he was accepted as an intern at this unusual “Urban Laboratory” created by renowned Italian architect. Paolo Soleri.

Check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcosanti target=”blank”>http://www.arcosanti.org/with a modern city in Arizona that is established for the purpose of modeling sustainable living. Bodhinatha’s commission to Sadhaka is for him to learn as much about sustainable living as he can and bring this knowledge back to Kauai Aadheenam.

Meanwhile Sadhaka Haranandinatha is on a mission today to get some photos of Iraivan which have been a bit sparse on TAKA these days. With him is Task Forcer Teja who is manning the camera.

The painstaking work of the Tara pillars as been occupying our silpis for many weeks.

Alignment from the top of one pillar to the next in relation to the roof, the existing Vimanam and the future Raja Gopuram in the front is “mission critical.”

It is almost impossible for a stone as huge as the Tara pillar to be absolutely symmetrical to within 1/4 of an inch. So this means that the base must be placed in such a way that the top of the pillar is accurately in line.

The silpis are doing a great job but it’s slow work. Making minute adjustments to huge stones weighing
several tons takes time.

Below, today’s visitors. While we have two official tour days, if one of our selfless hosts is free, they get a chance to take visitors to the temple on other days.

Completing the placement of the top section of one of the Tara pillars are Rajendran, Karupiah, Manikandan and perched on top waving is Chelliah.

(Center) Arati and Suresh Bangalore with their daughter Divya. Originally from Bangalore they now live in Virginia Beach, VA. They heard about the temple through reading a friends Hinduism Today magazine.

(Right) Judy Brewington and Leo Masson from Sacramento, CA. They work for Kauai Blue Tour Book. Their experience here was “so wonderful. We’re so grateful to have been able to see this sacred place.”

(Left) David and Sunya Barry from Los Angeles. They heard about our temple from Kauai Tourism Book. They felt “so happy to be here. Its so beautiful and so very peaceful here.”

It is Sun Three today and the Pillaiyar Kulam shared news. Shanmuganathaswami has shipped books to Chennai and is working to open up an Indian distribution center so that people in India do not have to pay exorbitant shipping fees for books. With the help of Venkatt Guhesan we will have a special web interface for Indian web shoppers. Shanmuganathaswami has also put in many many hours working with Yogi Japendranatha on our new phone system upgrade. Muruganathaswami has been working on the continuing promotion of the new book What is Hinduism by keeping in touch with reviewers. One important development is that Publisher’s Weekly is planning to review the book. He is also sending out copies to various news papers in key locations around the country. Sadhaka Jothinatha told us news on various new innersearch applicants. Yogi Jivanandanatha who carries a lot of the accounting on his shoulders is in the midst of closing the books for 2006 along with other regular duties like tracking down all the credit card charges that come thru. Dharmaraj has been doing a lot of shipping and is now a “Fed Ex Shipping Expert” … we sent off dozens of shipments of items for sale to our fulfillment center in Michigan. Shanmuganathaswami and his team have recently done a great service to the whole monastery by cleaning up and renovating the shelving in our storage containers for the Lambodara Kulam and also the “Loha Guha” which is a giant metal storage building. He also spearheaded the initiative to get a new professional side walk cleaner which came yesterday and is in testing. Tandavan Task forcer has been helping with inventory of retail items for sale and the storage area upgrades. A very busy team!

This morning was the auspicious monthly Chitra puja for Gurudeva.

Yogi Jivanandanatha and Sadhaka Tejadeva are the priests today.

Below is movie from this morning’s events. Note we are advancing our video format delivery to H.264. You need the Quicktime 7.1 to see these on Windows.

Shama Kumaran with the camera and guests at Iraivan:

Manikandan perches high atop the second of two Bhadra pillars which were lifted onto their bases within the past few days. Karupaiah and Chellaiya stand each side of the pillar smiling at the completion of a successful morning’s work.

A vacationing couple from Minnesota who had heard about the Iraivan Temple, but never dreamed that they would actually “see it,” pose in front of the main entrance after being taken on a spontaneous tour this morning.

Kimberley and her parents Mr. and Mrs. R. Wyckham have been here on pilgrimage for several days now enjoying the morning pujas in the Kadavul Temple and visiting the beautiful Iraivan Temple and botanical gardens of the Aadheenam. Today they return home. Kimberley has spent several months in South India and plans to return there in the not too distant future.

We have also enjoyed the presence of this delightful Danish family over the past several days. Heidi Tordrup and her three wonderful children, Gaia (age 14), Sol Bjorn (age 10), and Wolf (age 7). They return to Denmark with a lot of rich and wonderful experiences and memories during their visit here. Heidi promised that her family “will return to Kauai and this wonderful temple here someday.”

Kulapati Deva Seyon is back from Mauritius and he brought with him these beautiful temple decoration flags for festival days.

They are a stunning addition to the dancing Tandava statues in Kadavul.

The flags say:

“Aum Sakti!”

Saravananathaswami reported on the Ekadanta Kulam activities. He sends his bullet list to TAKA today:

• updated Innersearch website with Bodhinatha video clip
• figuring out new voice mail setup
• correspondence about Kauai Aloha Endowment grants, insurance questions
• responding to new monastic interest in San Diego, age 18
• more visitor arrangements
• mapping out new flow for answering Master Course worksheets on a regular basis. Creating standard answers for various stages
• Satellite News
• Arranging darshan with Bodhinatha for new Innersearcher Danie
• set up cable lock for rudraksha forest gate
• REviewed some paper work from new monastic candidate, Kamil
• More advance logistics work for the California retreat in the fall.

Tour day dawns again with a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving to view, what one visitor stated was the “eighth wonder of the world,” the very beautiful, magnificent, and sacred Iraivan Temple.

Here the early morning 9 am group crowds around the outer sanctum and spills down the steps to the main temple floor. The shilpis on scaffolding high above their heads never tire of answering their endless questions about their sacred art.

The second group of visitors pose with their ever-positive, proficient and patient tour guide, Sadhaka Satyanatha, as well as three of the shilpis, Kumar, Pandi and Rajendran (right).

Yogi Japendranatha’s mother, Vicki Hamilton is visiting for ten days. Yogi is working on the monastery’s bi-annual (every two years) computer hardware upgrade and she is giving him a helping hand. We will be sending in all our old computers and monitors and upgrading to the latest technology

Here the article on the silpis in the Garden Island that we ran in yesterday’s TAKA.

Below we have a slide show for you of a monks’ outing on the retreat.

The March Ganesha Homa took place just a few days after the recent cyclone over
the island. Much efforts were put into raking the ground that were covered with
leaves everywhere. As usual a large crowd of devotees poured into the Spiritual
Park to worship Lord Ganesha.

On the eve, the ground close to the Mandapam was being tidied up.

The place suddenly looked clean and beautiful again….

Siven, our main gardener is also good a brick laying. He is constructing a stone
path that leads to the Mandapam from the Ganesha Bridge

Back to our Sunday Homa. A talented group of singers from Curepipe entertained
everyone with beautiful bajans on Lord Ganesha.

The whole Mandapam echoed with devotional songs.

The early comers are happy to be seated so close to Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati.

The Homa is lighted while bhajanas continue….

Wherever devotees are seated, they always feel the spiritual vibration of the
ceremony .

A few prefer to sit around the little pond.

Hundreds of written prayers dipped in ghee are burnt into the homa. The devas
are having a busy time in the inner worlds.

Time for testimonies open to all those who want to share them. Many devotees
came forward this Sunday. Their real life experiences are a real inspiration to
all…

This gentleman and his family have been preparing food all night to be served at
the Park after the ceremony. He has been inspired to do it just because he feels
something special about Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati at the Park. Each month
volunteers come up to sponsor lunch for the Ganesha Homa.

The leader of the bhajana group too has a testimony….He feels so blessed by Lord
Ganesha. He is a graduate in music and is happy to sing for Lord Ganesha at the
Park.

This lady has prayed Lord Ganesha tasking for solutions to her family problems.
She is a regular devotee attending Homa . Her prayers have been answered and she
is so happy to have now become so close to Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati!

Our friend, the brother of one of our members, has suddenly discovered the
greatness of Lord Ganesha and the high spiritual vibration of the Park. .He
wants to share it with everyone….

This gentleman, a GM of a well known tourist resort entertained everyone about
his story where Lord Ganesha helped him out of a perilous situation where he was
about to lose his job due to unforeseen circumstances. He said how rats
mystically solved a problem that needed an urgent solution.

Our young lady here prayed to Lord Ganesha to help her in her HSC
(pre-university) exams and she came out among the best and was awarded a
scholarship by the Government to study abroad.

We start up a six-day phase after a powerful, creative fulfilling three-day retreat. Here is Bodhinatha given his Sun One talk on spiritualizing daily life.

Yogi Japendranatha performs the homa…

Our very devoted family from Denmark was invited to the homa today. The children were “awestruck” by the ceremony.

We will finally meet our goal this phase of posting Bodhinatha’s latest talk with transcription in the same week he has given it. Watch the side bar. We are posting a new talk link daily.

Host Brahmacharini Shama Kumaran share some of the guests adventures she has had today.

Mrs. Hatoyama and a group of Japanese ladies arrived from Japan to visit the Aadheenam grounds and the Iraivan Temple. A Hindu family also joined the group in the sacred Rudraksha forest and everyone hugged the trees.

Why do they hug the Rudraksha trees you ask? These trees are sacred and, when hugged for a few minutes, they will take all the negative energy out of you up into the tree and you are left feeling completely peaceful. The seeds therefore are called “the compassionate tears of God Siva for all humanity.”

It is wonderful to see so many Hindu families visiting the temple. Some hear about the temple while vacationing on Kauai, while others make the temple pilgrimage the reason for visiting the Kauai.

At the Iraivan temple complex in front of the Tara pillars are our wonderful visitors from Japan and the Hindu family who pilgrimaged to Kauai is to the right of them.

Another beautiful morning with more wonderful Hindu families visiting the iraivan Temple.

Here in front of the Yallis are Milind and Nirupama Korde from San Jose, CA, Veer and Esha Bhavanandan from Tempe, AZ, Kamal and Rushita Rupareliya from Burbank, CA and Raju Sivanathan from Phoenix, AZ.

Kauai’s one and only newspaper “The Garden Island” did a feature story on the silpis of Iraivan. We share with you the text of the article below. (We didn’t have access to the photos that appeared with the article, so have substituted some of our own that are close.)

by Keya Keita – The Garden Island
Posted: Friday, Mar 02, 2007 – 09:29:11 am HST

WAILUA — High above an emerald green valley, dripping with tropical vines and ancient trees, a gentle tapping of iron and stone fills sunlit hours. Six master stone carvers from Karakudi in Southern India are patiently carving the intricate details on pillars of granite, one chip at a time. The gentle tapping of the iron and stone is reflected in the hand-made monument that many would believe was carved from deafening machines and electric tools. The founding Guru of this temple, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Gurudeva, 1927-2001), is responsible for having chosen the site of the monastery as well as envisioning the cultural exchange that is now being carried out in order to build the permanent structure.

Added together, the six artists working on this place of worship have 98 years experience — several began as young as 13 years old. This commission is called, by those involved, a unique and honorable work, as it is the first time that a Hindu temple is being fabricated with the identical traditional methods used in India over 1,000 years ago. The artisans work six days a week, for two years, before returning to their home. When asked if this time away is a terrible hardship, they say, “It is a typical aspect of the stone carver’s job to be away from home working on a site for several months per year. In addition, we are so pleased to be working on this project in Kaua’i and we see it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

The translator for the Tamil-speaking artisans, Yoginathaswami, a monk at the temple, added, “for this birth and perhaps many to come, they feel this is a unique and wonderful opportunity.”

The tradition of carving in India is regarded differently depending on what it is one is carving. Temple carvers hold a higher respect among Indian society than craftsman who make tools or everyday items. While three of Kaua’i’s visiting artists came to the profession because their fathers or grandfathers also did the work, the other three came to it on their own, out of interest and desire. The training of the craft costs time and determination — it takes a minimum of six years to begin a professional career as a carver. Working one’s way through apprenticeship in tools and labor eventually allows the aspiring carver time to practice on scraps lying about at the work site. Practicing chipping away at solid stone is done over lunch breaks and free time. Once the apprentice feels they are able to make rough forms, they approach the construction coordinator out of their own volition to apply for a position. Several years are spent learning how to smooth surfaces and carve general pictorial forms, yet the exquisite details of Hindu temples are left only to the very experienced master carvers, called Silpis.

The temple structure is not erected simply by standing pillars and stone to form several chambers and entry ways. There is a sacred science, highly protected from public knowledge, that informs the architectural engineering of such a special space.

The temple architect called a Sthapati, is a highly educated engineer and designer who is fluently versed in a sacred mathematical formula that is used to plan all temple structures. One of the Silpis said, “For every 100 Silpis, there are only two Sthapati in India.” While many Silpis may aim toward one day becoming a Sthapati, the “sacred knowledge of spiritual mathematics is dearly coveted,” said Yoginathaswami. The Iraivan Temple in Wailua is constructed based on an 11-foot, 71/4 inch pattern that was derived from calculations of astrological positioning, the temple’s honored deity “Siva” and the founding Gurudeva’s name. This spiritual architectural calculation is meant to connect the divine and the material.

“From their perspective, even after years of professional expertise, the Silpis have the technical knowledge, but they lack the theoretical wisdom that informs the actual design of the space.” Yoginathaswami said.

The extensive meaning in each and every aspect of the temple, pictorially defining a complex theology, hints at the depth of how this structure is already a place of divinity and worship. The visiting artists feel that their experience working here has been “life-transforming and illuminating.” They explained the drastic difference between working on a typical temple project in India and Kaua’i’s temple, “We credit Gurudeva, the founder of the temple, for making the working experience be a spiritual experience. At other jobs, you arrive in the morning and work all day. If you make a mistake, you are fired on the spot. Gurudeva felt that this work should be peaceful and joyful. We begin each day with communal worship and prayer. This unites us in our cause and work and the mood is carried throughout the day. No matter what our individual beliefs, we are united when it comes to this project. Gurudeva insisted that we carve everything by hand in the tradition of Hindu temples in India — this has greatly improved our skills as Silpis.”

The building of the temple begins on a large construction site in India, where the Sthapati oversees many carvers who flesh out the pillars in rough form. As the 3,000 pieces of stone are completed, they make their journey by sea to Nawiliwili and up to the Wailua property to slowly be placed and then finished by the resident artisans. The details that the carvers are fashioning are so intricate and expansive that it is difficult to fathom this is all being done with rough chisels held by 12 hands.

On monthly outings over the past 20 months, the artisans have visited every tourist site on the island — from Waimea to the Napali Coast — but when asked what their favorite spot to visit is they sheepishly said, “Wal-Mart.”

The spectacle of “having everything from 100 stores in one single store is fascinating to them.” Yoginathaswami said.

“We have also taken them for coffee at the Grand Hyatt and Princeville Hotel — this is something they could never arrange to do in their own country.” Tourist resorts are carefully guarded in India and non-guests are not allowed on the premises.

The two years the artists have spent working on Kaua’i seem short in the lifetime of the structure they are building. The Silpis expressed their gratitude for the opportunity and experience, but the temple will last far beyond the years of any current resident or worker.

Chipping away at time is the task of these master craftsmen.

Yoginathaswami recounted a story from a recent visitor: “After touring the construction site the visitor remarked how we often look at great world monuments, temples and ancient structures and wonder what it was like when they were building them. This is one we can all be witness to.”

Long after the temple is finished, the echoes of the “chip, chip, chip” of these artisans will eternally be housed in the stone, and visitors from all over the world will marvel at who could have done this, and how.

Another discourse by Bodhinatha is linked on the right today. He has nearly completed the editing of the 12 Mamasane, which are 12 key meditations in shum to be practiced, one per month, throughout the year.

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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 Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Monday, March 5th.

Our Asia Odyssey 2008 innersearch is revving up in enthusiasm and intensity. Everyone here is delighted with the spirited response and it feels as though we are just days from departure. Thirty-six fine souls have already sent in their applications and many others tell us they are thinking it over seriously or working diligently to make it a reality for themselves. If you are thinking you might like to join us, do contact us. Departure is now less than 10 months away and, as you probably know, time has a way of whizzing by… Here, Saravananathaswami shows the brochure we’d be happy to send you if you like. You can request it by e-mail: innersearch@hindu.org Or you can go to our Innersearch website and find all the information there. And while you’re there, you might click any of 3 mini-video clips where Bodhinatha speaks of the meditation classes he will give during the journey, and how he will use the Shum language to help us navigate the inner mind. A magnificent and rare opportunity! Do let us hear from you.

Miguel (left) and Israel (right) at the famous ‘Look-Out’ with both the waterfall, the meditation pavilion and the Iraivan Temple in the background.

Today was the last day of this phase, and on Sun Five the Ganapati Kulam give there report… They are always busy as bees….

Paramacharya Palaniswami is primarily focused on his trip to India in April. One of his missions will be to discuss with religious TV stations about the possibility of putting 46 episodes of What is Hinduism on the air. This is a vision Bodhinatha has. A film maker came by yesterday, who recently moved to Kauai and she thought it was a marvelous project. “A book like that, serving as a script for such a thing. If you asked anyone in Hollywood to do such a thing they would think it impossible, but here you have it, in your hands…” Check out the new web page we made for What is Hinduism

Arumugaswami continue to push forward on the promotion of the 16 page Hindu History Lesson that he master minded over a long period of time. See the web page on this important initiative at http://www.hinduismtoday.com/education/ It is an on-going decades long effort we will need to persist with to get the proper concept of Hinduism into the nation’s school text books.

You may be wondering about these Ganesha images.

Well our Hindu Art CD is now available and a small one of 1008 Ganesha… we bring you today some images from the collection. This project has also been in the background, literally for years and Palaniswami has been collecting image and Sadhaka Satyanatha work hard to collate, organize and get this art ready for public distribution… Check out the home page and movie here at the recently re-done art web site home page.

Below is a movie-slideshow of images for you to see more….

Sivakatirswami has been busy as usual with all kinds of web work and completed the launch of the Hinduism Today April Digital Edition. If you are a subscriber, you can boot up the application and you will be prompted to download the PDF’s for this issue. It’s a beauty! He is learning a little video editing and you will enjoy the movie in the digital edition that was submitted by the Swadhyay Pariwar. If you are not a subscriber, don’t walk but run to! Hinduism Today Digital Edition — Free

Meanwhile, click here to view a high-res image of Pradosha Siva for your desktop. Just one of from the incredible Hindu Art DVD collection.