Today Bodhinatha started “book signings” following a pattern set by Gurudeva before on tour days. Bodhinatha is coming at the end of both the 9am and 11am tours and signing copies of our newest 416-page, full-folor book, “What Is Hinduism?”

Rain or shine visitors arrive for the weekly tour of the Iraivan Temple hosted by Sadhaka Satyanatha

The 9 a.m. group of about 65 bright souls pose for this photo in the Eastern prakaram of the temple.

Another large group of enthusiastic visitors arrived for the second tour of the morning. Asked later how they enjoyed their visit here, all agree it was “wonderful!!!”

With both groups and other visitors we had nearly 150 souls come to the Aadheenam today.

Bodhinatha sits quietly in the Banyan Mandapam awaiting the visitors after the tour.

Sadhaka Satyanatha, our host with Sivanadiyar Dharmaraj, who has set up a beautiful display of literature and books.

Visitors will see this scene on coming back from Iraivan…

Our first guest takes his copy of “What Is Hinduism?” to Bodhinatha.

The rest of the photos tell the story quiet well on their own….

Bodhinatha with Kathirgamanathan and his wife, Sarathadevi from Newfoundland, Canada

The Ekadanta Kulam of one, Saravananathaswami gave his new today. Here a terse list of his activities.

• emailing tithe reconciliations and dealing with the responses
• update Master Course Level One course order web page
• Talking with sishyas in Malaysia by phone
• reviewing new innersearch applications
• printed Saivite Culture for our task forcers to read to read
• send out nine audio CDs for Yogaswami mahasamadhi
• setting up more group visits–Japanese spiritual tour group in June
• sent another Master Course level 2 app and vegie vrata to a serious student
• Continuing Kauai Aloha Endowment newsletter wok
• Setting up visitor arrival Calendar on our seva web wiki.

This is from today’s daily Master Course lesson. It’s such a perfect and succinct and profound summation of our tradition, we were inspired to add it to TAKA for those who do not get the daily lessons. The art shows Nandinatha, the first known guru of our lineage, with his 8 disciples in the Himalayas, where he lived over 2,200 years back. Now to Gurudeva’s delightful definition:

Natha means “lord or adept,” and sampradaya refers to a living theological tradition. The roots of this venerable heritage stretch back beyond recorded history, when awakened Natha mystics worshiped the Lord of lords, Siva, and in yogic contemplation experienced their identity in Him. The Natha Sampradaya has revealed the search for the innermost divine Self, balanced by temple worship, fueled by kundalini yoga, charted by monistic theism, illumined by a potent guru-shishya system, guided by soul-stirring scriptures and awakened by sadhana and tapas.

A really delightful day with soft trades and sunshine. Still, quite a number of visitors arrived, most not in our photographs since today is not an official tour day. But a few did get to visit Iraivan and here they are.

From left to right Mary Jane Dockeray and Bertrand Hewett both from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sunny Stewart from Hilo, Hawaii, Sabrina Machado from Kauai, Rob Churney,Jr. from Suva, Fiji and J. Cienian, also from Grand Rapids, and Shen Orion from Kauai.

Sunny, Sabrina and Rob Churney in front of the sanctum. (Sabrina arranges tours on the Island).

Mary Jane Dockeray, now retired and in her 80s (they came to Kauai to celebrate her husband’s 80th birthday). She told us that she was used to whacking away at stones and had done it for years in her profession as a geologist. Mary Jane hit that stone with such force and precision that a large chunk flew off one corner of the block. There was a hushed chorus of “Wow!” from all admirers present, including Silpi Chellaiya one of our professional stone-carvers who was passing by.

One last photo in front of the Iraivan Temple before departing on the people mover.

Mary Jane’s signature mark. After thousands have tried, an 80 year old finally shows how it’s done and took a big chip out of the stone!

The palmyra palm tree (Borassus flabellifer) is the “general store of the East. Flabellifer means “fan-bearing.” The fronds are amazingly convoluted and stiff. It is also known as the jaggery palm or toddy palm, can be found growing wild in tropical regions in India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea. This tree is mainly used to produce sweet sap, which is made into jaggery, or palm sugar. This sugar is used to sweeten dishes and can be distilled into wine and vinegar. It is, by far, the best brown sugar in the world. The palmyra palm also produces seeds similar to coconuts that contain a sweet fruit that is enjoyed by the people who live in regions where the palm grows. This photo is one of our, 12 years old. The photo below of older trees is from a garden in Asia.

Palmyra palm seeds, also called “tag gola” and “loog than” in Thailand, are only found on female palm trees. The seeds grow in clusters on a long shoot at the top of the palm. The palm trees produce between six to twelve clusters annually, totaling about 300 individual seeds. These seeds grow to be about six to eight inches in diameter and resemble a small coconut. They are round or slightly oval with a leathery-hard brown skin that turns black when it is picked.

The fruit from both the immature and mature seeds are eaten. Both types of seeds are commonly roasted before opening the skin to reveal the fruit. Inside the immature seeds are numerous long, tough white fibers that are coated with two to four segments of yellow or orange juicy pulp. This pulp is extracted and eaten. The immature seeds also contain two or three soft white kernels that are translucent and have a crunchy texture like lychees. Inside the kernel is a sweet liquid like coconut milk that can be consumed. When the seed matures the kernel becomes opaque white like coconut meat, but is much harder and not edible. Only the pulp of mature seeds is eaten. The pulp is used in various baked and steamed desserts and the pulp from immature seeds is commonly pickled in vinegar. The juice of the fruit can also be extracted to make into a beverage or used in rice pudding dishes.

If you would like to try palmyra palm fruit, you should try looking in Indian and Southeast Asian markets. The fruit can be found canned and frozen year-round. The trees at Kauai’s HIndu Monastery, planted near Iraivan, are still young, just 12 years old, so it will be a while before they bear fruits.

Bodhinatha read from the introduction of Merging with Siva on Nine Ways to Merge with Siva and then gave a spontaneous talk on the subject. The audio and transcript coming to you very soon!

Sun One begins a new phase with Yogi Jivanandanatha performing the rites today.

Shama Kumara hosted some guests over our retreat.

This is Kathirgamanathan and his wife, Sarathadevi are from Newfoundland, Canada where they and another couple are the only Saivite Hindus residing there.

They came on a pilgrimage to Kauai on the urging of Sarathadevi’s sister. Following the abhishekam in the Kadavul Siva Temple, they began their pilgrimage down San Marga – the Straight Path to God. First to Lord Ganesha’s Shrine.

. . . on to Muruga Hill where Muruga’s Vel of Grace stands symbolizing the removal of ignorance and darkness from the mind . . .

. . . and on down San Marga to . . .

to Lord Ganesha . . .

. . . and Kartikeya who guard the entrance to the sacred Swayambhu Lingam where Gurudeva had a threefold vision of God Siva.

Dakshinamurthy the South-facing aspect of God Siva, and also the Silent Guru. Kathirgamanathan and Sarathadevi place Bilva leaves on the raised foot of the deity.

In front of the Tara pillars and sanctum of the Iraivan Temple.

Later, down to the sacred Wailua river to bathe the feet and sprinkle the sacred water on the head.

Over the the lotus ponds to bathe the Narmada Lingam with fresh mountain rain water and milk.

. . . and finally to the sacred Rudraksha forest where it is perfectly appropriate to hug a tree.

A lovely sunny Sunday morning which began with a
Sun One 6 a.m. homam followed by a 7:30 puja to Lord Muruga and a 9 a.m. abhishekam to Lord Siva.

This was followed by a small joyful group of visitors from all over the world touring the Iraivan Temple and grounds.

The current status of Iraivan…

Views of Mount Waialeale’s evening pre-sunset light show.

We received some more koi fish. Read about it in our slide show below.

Enrolled students of the Himalayan Academy studying the Master Course by correspondence meet every month for what is called Bodhinatha’s MC Students Gathering to review their studies, study further lessons from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami’s Talks and learn the basics of meditation. This month our group met at Port Louis at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Sailesh Jaddoo.

The Lesson was on Part Six of Bodhinatha’s Talk: Yamas and Niyamas In-depth. Here is an introduction:
“Have you ever tried to explain to another what the purpose of our Hindu practices was? Perhaps as a parent your child asked you why are Hindus vegetarian, or what is the purpose of going to the temple, or why do we meditate?

Of course we can choose to give a philosophical answer such as to resolve our karma, realize God and be liberated from reincarnation. This, of course, is a technically perfect answer however it is so abstract it doesn’t give the child a clue as to how in Hinduism we are expected to behave. Therefore, a simpler answer would be a more useful one…….”

” Now and then we speak to groups of non-Hindus at our monastery in Hawaii and introduce them to Hinduism. I have found the following to be an effective approach for explaining the essence of Hinduism in a uncomplicated way without using any technical terms.

It is a simple answer that focuses on behavior

Hinduism teaches us how to:

Become a better person

Improve our behavior

Live as spiritual beings on this Earth.

“My guru wrote at length on each of the twenty yamas and niyamas as he felt their practice and mastery was essential to deeper spiritual progress. We collected his writings on this topic and published it as a separate book entitled Yoga’s Forgotten Foundation: Twenty Keys to Your Divine Destiny to provide broader distribution of these concepts. The book can be purchased in Canada from Amazon.com Canada and also from Banyen Books in Vancouver.

I found the following review of the book on their website and thought you would enjoy hearing it:

A strong read for serious yoga practitioners, meditators and anyone deeply involved with transformative spiritual life, Yoga’s Forgotten Foundation delves into the integrated approach to yoga as taught by the great masters of India. It is a cogent reminder to those who want to start at the end of the spiritual path that there is an essential beginning, the neglect of which portends failure and disappointment. With full-color Indian art, it explores the traditional foundation of yoga, twenty little-known guidelines on personal ethics, self-control and religious practice, called the yamas and niyamas.”

Time for a tea break. The Seminar is to last three to four hours. Everyone gathers on the terrace…

From left, Vandana, Roshan, Ramsamy, Poobarlene….

From left, Sailesh, Nuckiren, Ananda and Kirtideva

Saminaden and Mahadeven.

At the end of the seminar lunch was served by the Jaddoo family…

Students come forward to give a helping

In view of the visit of Kulapati Deva Seyon and his family, Mauritius kulapaties and kulamatas were invited at a dinner at Cap Malheureux.

Kulapati Sivakumaren and Kulamata Kavita hosted the event….

The ladies having some nice talk… a lot to share about Kauai and Mauritius….

Our kulapatis having some talked in a relaxed festive mood…

The children Saivite Hindu Religion class at the Spiritual Park this week was on Lesson 2 Book V “What is Hinduism?”

It is Sun Five of a wonderful phase. The Ganapati Kulam gave news today. The completion of the April issue of Hinduism Today print edition was top of the list.

We are also engineering a coverage of Thai Pusam in Malaysia for a major feature story next issue. Rajiv Malik our correspondent from Delhi was flown in to cover the event. Rohini Kumar lead the video team for a short documentary film for the event and several photographers were enlisted. This give you some sense of Hinduism Today’s grow editorial “strength” to be able to arrange coverage for news like this.

Other “back burner” projects are moving forward in the books realm, Children’s Course proofs, Living with Siva Pocket Book.

We are also “aggressively” upgrading our digital resouces CMS (Content Management System) the Portfolio catalog is showing 350,000 files in it’s database and Robin and other sevaks have been going through these, putting in metadata, keywords, fixing file names so that we can have good access to all these resources.

From the web team you will find a new web application coming on line soon, which is an upgraded Hindu lexicon with 3,600 words with super fast access, including cross references just link you see in our books.

We are also working with another new internet provider, Dreamhost to serve movies in various format via a streaming server. You can check it out… Go to our Video library page and click on the Parampara video link to see some new options.

Of course, the recent release of What Is Hinduism is starting to gain traction. Go to our web store and click on “Books.” Don’t miss getting your copy on line today!

~~~~~~~~~~~
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 Navami Tithi, Sun One, Sunday, February 11th.

The weatherman was wrong again!!!

Its another beautiful day and we are again down at the
carving site of the Iraivan Temple where an unidentified
visitor is chipping away at the same flower that hundreds or
perhaps thousands of visitors have chipped away before him
. . to no avail . . with barely a mark on the stone! “My
goodness, that stone is really hard!”

. . . Even “Grandma Jaya”
tried to bring that flower to life.

Here are this morning’s
visitors from Mumbai, Gujarat, Canada and America. All
declared their full intention to return for the Maha Kumbha
Abhishekam of this very sacred temple, God Siva’s Iraivan
Temple.

A little statue of Gurudeva in the Ganapati
Kulam….

Kulapati Deva Seyon at satsang in Mauritius….

A cool and beautiful Sun Four and Chitra puja day at the Aadheenam. The Siddhidata Kulam gave their news today… more about that later….

The Chitra padapuja invoking Gurudeva in the morning… it is always a profound experience.

The atmosphere gradually fills with an inner “fragrance” of a powerful loving force.

As if Gurudeva were pouring out to us all, as one monk said “a river of liquid love” in response to the same coming from our monastic pujaris. The white milk on his sandals did seem like white, flowing adoration for the Satguru.

The words of Yogaswami come to mind on these special days of Guru bhakti:

He is the helper of his devotees, an ocean of bliss.
Night and day he adorns the precincts of the temple (Nallur)
He forgave me all my faults and made me his.
Day and night he is dancing in my mind.

On those, who harbour envy, anger and deceit,
His grace that free one also will bestow and say–“Don’t fear!”

In the hearts of those, who even in dreams do not forget his lotus feet,
His sweetness will be relished like panchamirtam.

Now we are off to Iraivan….

The Siddhidata Kulam gave their news at lunch today. Sannyasin Yoginathaswami describes the four-hour process of installing a single pillar.

Another Tara pillar is moving into place… magnificent!

Meanwhile he checks with his team who is working on the “eternal scaffold in the sky.”

Our silpis are working on new ornamentation on the upper levels of the main sanctum and they need high work space… Here is Sadhaka Adinatha, putting the support systems together.

Sadhaka Tejadeva mills lumber to specification for the “high rise working floors.”

Our silpis prepare mortar for the base of the Tara pillar.

Rajendran and Manikandan are busy preparing the concrete surface for the two remaining Bhadra pillars, which are the last of the pillars in the temple. Breaking concrete by hand — now that’s hard work! Yet, always with a smile on his face.

Aki and Miki Kikuchi visiting a Hindu Temple for the first time. Miki is originally from Kyoto and her husband, Aki, is from Fukushima outside Tokyo. Both now live in Saltspring Island, Canada with their two young children.

They attended the morning Siva puja and found Hinduism to be “profound” and the peacefulness of the entire property, “unbelievable.”

Along the way to Iraivan, pilgrims encounter some amazing palms, like this Corypha giant which one day will dominate this corner of the land (it’s still a baby!)

Bodhinatha is continuing his work in shum, daily editing the definitions for the “Mamsane” which are 12 meditations that are performed each month throughout the year.

Today the Pillaiyar Kulam gave their news. Talaivar Shanmuganathaswami has been very busy with preparations for the arrival of copies of “What is Hinduism”. Sadhaka Jothinatha shared news of interest in the coming Innersearch. Three more applications have arrived. Muruganathaswami gave news on his continuing efforts to contact reviewers about the new book “What Is Hinduism,” and said that sales were already “brisk” on the web store.. Get your copy today!
Yogi Jivanandanatha has been working as usual on accounting matters, Dharmaraj has been active shipping books here and there, answering phone calls and working on Hinduism Today Subscriptions. Task forcer Tandava is helping also prepare our ware house storage area for the coming arrival of a huge stock of books.

It was tour day today…

The weather changes so rapidly in Hawaii. One day can be balmy, humid and still. But during winter, the next day it can be cold and windy.

Here is Chellaiya, one of our very creative Shilpis, showing how he feels about Hawaii winter – “its cold!”

Temperature dropped below 60 degree Fahrenheit last night. It rarely drops below 55 here on Kauai. But if you are used to the tropics and have no central heating and no socks, that’s cold!

A group of visitors attentively watching the shilpis at work.

Rajendran patiently demonstrates the ancient art of stone-carving.

“Now what was I supposed to do?” . . .

. . . .”oh yes, now I remember, hit it at an angle!”

The early morning visitors pose with Chellaiya
and in the foreground is the Tara pillar he is about to place on its base.

This fluted pillar is handcarved out of black granite which is very difficult to carve since it shards off and can cut the Shilpi as he chips away at it.

It also has a metallic sound when it is struck which is totally different from the white granite.

In front of Dakshinamurthy…

The amazing stone chain handcarved out of blue/black granite, (on the left, photos show the process it took to do so).

Second morning group of visitors in front of the Yallis.
we have nearly 150 visitors today!

Keya Keita (right) with her mother Elizabeth Gill Lui beside an exquisitely handcarved image of Lord Ganesha made from one piece of wood.

Keya is the Lifestyle Editor and Film-maker for the local Garden Island Newspaper. She is here celebrating her mother’s birthday and enjoying the sacredness of the Kadavul Siva Temple. She would like to do an article on our silpis.

Meanwhile the ever busy crab spider awaits you:

The February 2007 Ganesha Homa held on the 4th was attended by some 2000 devotees from all parts of the island of Mauritius….a very important meeting with Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati looked forward to by devotees on the first Sunday of every month.

Devotees calmly seated inside the Mandapam while preparations are going on for the ceremony….

…..Usually devotees bring home made garlands and sweets for Ganesha…

Singers lead devotional songs that are repeated in chorus by all those present…

A special guest from the other side of the African continent is here to preside
over the ceremony. Kulapati Deva Seyon from the island of Kauai, a long time
disciple of Gurudeva, is honoring everyone by his presence. He will be taking
care to send the hundreds of written prayers into the Homa fire to be received
by beings of the inner worlds…

Kulamata Seyon is not far away….

When prayers are being burnt everyone joins in to chant the sacred mantra while
bells are being rung…

All through the ceremony devotees keep coming with offerings… Everything
lovingly offered is placed at the Feet of the deity…

Testimony time! Kulapati Deva Seyon talked about how once the Hawaiians burnt
prayers during a long hard drought that severely hit the island. There was a
monthly homa at Kauai Aadheenam and prayers were burnt asking for help from the
inner worlds. He said how Gurudeva carried an umbrella during the ceremony when
there was no rain! But later that evening their prayers were answered. There
was a sudden downpour and it lasted for three months… the crops were saved!

This is a Kovila, a young lady from the north who won an important prize at a
national Tamil song competition in Mauritius. He gave a testimony about how she
prayed Lord Ganesha for help to make her a good singer. Kovila attends all the
Ganesha Homas at the Park.

After the testimonies, Kulapati Manon Mardemootoo gave a talk based on one of
Satguru Bodhinatha’s Upadesha in Hinduism Today. The talk emphasized on the
basics of Hinduism.

After the Talk, with everyone inspired everyone stands up for he final arati.

Paramasiven handling archanas at the small Pancha Mukha Ganapati shrine.

From the right, Siven , Kavinian and Valaytan….. always there to help when
ever needed.

Devotees worshipping at the other shrines on the property. Here they are at the
Siva Dakshinamurthi…

Devotees queueing up at one of he food stations….

Some of our Church sishyas having a walk in the property….

Sun Two today…

Some of our guests today.

Ram Arora and his son Amit Arora with Siva Yoginathaswami.

Ram and Amit are very gracious hosts for visiting monks and shilpis who first arrive on Oahu. Ram owns an Indian restaurant in Honolulu. Amit regularly visits his father in Honolulu and is a resident of San Francisco. Both make frequent visits to the Kauai Aadheenam.

Local resident and long-time devotee of Gurudeva, Isani Alahan (left), hosts friends of her sister. Here are Larry and Pat Fikus from Grey Eagle, CA. in front of the beautiful hand-carved granite Umbrella Ganesha on the path to the Iraivan Temple. They are joined by two young ladies from San Francisco.

Arvind and Sanchita Raghavan with their two year old daughter, Minnoli, visiting from California.

Minnoli was quite insistent that her dad “take out” the ball in the lion’s mouth.

More progress photos from Our Mauritius Center.. with many hundreds of people coming to the monthly gatherings the sishya there are working to make the center more “crowd friendly” and safe…. bridge under renovation. The concrete surface, covered with a wood surface.

You can get some idea of the huge crowds. Inside the Ganesha mandapam, it is packed… these are people outside.

There is a shallow pool in front where one little boy took and unexpected dip recently.

The Spiritual park has a beautiful grove of mango trees…

A tall statue of Dakshinamurthy is there.

The large crowd on it’s way to the food stations for prasadam.

We would never have guessed years ago that our center in Mauritius would become such a magnet for devotees. It is all Lord Ganesha’s magic and the vision of Gurudeva manifesting.

We are back from a dynamic three-day Thai Pusam full moon retreat. Bodhinatha is here give a wonderful talk on the Shum concept of “Kaef,” awareness being aware of itself and nothing else, this morning after homa.

Hitesvara Saravan, Ganga Sivanathan and Jnani Shanmuga are “triple teaming” the transcriptions of Bodhinatha’s talks, so, watch closely for new postings each day on the side bar. The talks on Shum are “right around the corner.”

Yogi Japendranatha performs the homa this chilly morning.

During the retreat, the stewards of the Hindu Heritage Endowment for their quarterly meeting. A number of young monks joined them. Paramacharya Palaniswami brings us a slide show of this important event that comes four times each year.

There is a steady stream of pilgrims, visitors and guests from all over the world.

Some pilgrims have darshan with Bodhinatha this morning.

Our group of visitors today posing with Siva Yoganathan Swami.

Here are Ashok and Pushpa Nalamawar, Ram Gopalan, Kavita Murthi and Siveta and Maya Ramachanran all from Fremont, P. S. Sarma, also Nagratna and Jyoti Gopalan from Chennai, and Lalitha, Nat, Ganapathy and Alamelu Mani from California and Mr. and Mrs Sathi from Canada. There were also a few late arrivals who made up the group.

What a really beautiful Spring-like day it is!

Shakti and Dasan Mahadevan arrived for the 6am Sun One Homa this morning followed by an early morning walk to the Iraivan Temple. They were really surprised at how the building project has advanced since their last visit in October.

Here is one of our famous stone carvers, Rajendran, creatively working on corner Kolum designs with artful dedication. . .

. . . and with great concentration.

Pandi a few feet away expertly creates a beautiful flower design which encircles the outer sanctum wall.

These needle-sharp chisels only last a few minutes before they are too dull for this intricate work. The silpis are going through 400 chisels a day at the moment!

Kishor and Hima in front of the Iraivan Temple. He is from Chennai and Hima is from Bangalore.

Today the last two Tara or Namaskaram pillars are being put in place. Here is Chelliah wrapping the straps that will be used to lift the pillar up onto its base.

Siva Yoginathaswami with two of our always cheerful Silpis preparing to lift the first pillar by forklift.

Some our little group resting on the wall about the Kaua Nani falls and pond.

What a spectacular day!

This photo is from yesterday morning, the third day of our retreat.. the Thai Pusam full moon is just setting over the mountain and a group of young monks and taskforcers set off for one of Kauai’s great hikes. In fact it is only a five minute drive from the Aadheenam to enter a mini-wonderland that takes you up Kuamoo-NouNou trail for some spectacular views of East Kauai. We will let the pictures tell the story.

Vetri Vel Muruganukku! Happy Thai Pusam!

Today is a auspicious day in the world of South Indian Saivism. Several million people have been preparing for this day through prayer, fasting, to take Kavadi or simple attend the powerful Thai Pusam puja.. the day before the full moon in the month of Thai with all the inner Jothi’s are so bright, the day when Lord Muruga received his Vel.

The Ganapati Kulam gave their report today. They have been mostly working hard on completing the April issue of Hinduism Today.

And we are happy to announce that What Is Hinduism is now available on line!

~~~~~~~~~~~
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 Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Sunday, February 2nd.

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Our two yogis were the priests for the powerful Muruga Abhishekam this morning.

Silpi Chelliah and Karupaiah wanted to have their photos taken with Lord Murugan.

Our wind storm continues with strong winds blowing from over the mountain. It carries just enough rain to meet the sun and today we had a spectacular rainbow show over Iraivan temple after the Muruga puja.

The top of the mountain is flush with water, and streams are pouring down from the misty heights of Waialeale. We often have such dynamic weather when Lord Murugan is near!

Stepping back to yesterday’s tour day….

Dad has his turn at carving a delicate petal of that flower!

“Here let me show you how its done!”

A view of the Bhadra pillars and the beautiful carvings along the east side of the temple’s second prakaram.

A gusty, windy, rainy day could not deter these brave, enthusiastic, smiling souls from venturing forth, guided by Sadhaka Satyanatha over fallen debris from trees down to the Iraivan Temple site.

Here is a second group who toured the Iraivan Temple complex later in the morning. They are from all over the world, all happy and overjoyed to be here .

Russell and Ivy Ellis from Selkirk, Canada and Ken and Sharon Ellis from Winnipeg, Canada. Russell and Ken are brothers. Both couples on vacation and to get away from the brrr Canadian winter. They then heard about the “Hindu Temple.” And after visiting the sacred Iraivan Temple and wandering the very beautiful and peaceful grounds, they were “so glad they did.”

Here they are beside the rainbow eucalpytis trees.

. . . and by the very lovely Bali Hai waterfalls.

Kulapati Manon Mardemoootoo sends us some photos from Mauritius with an update on renovations at Saiva Siddhanta Church’s Spiritual Park there.

He writes: “We are sending shots of the small wall being built around the small Panchamuka Ganapathi. It will go around the small Panchamuka Ganapathi Mandapam, we shall fill up with earth and plant grass around.

The land was uneven and slippery, and not looking well; even a hazard walking around the small mandapam, especially when there are lots of people.

This is a replacement bridge over a pond…

Wood for railings that will soon be installed.

There are also some pictures of Kulapati Deva Seyon on the premises, He turned 60 years today, and there he is with his grandson Jayendra,

… and enjoying Muruga Bhajans from devotees and pilgrims around Lord Muruga.

When they heard he was sixty today, they came up with a ladoo – sweet round cake which they offered to him….

as well as a bouquet of andreanums; they were carrying flowers for offering to God and Gods.

It is a joy to have our brother and sister sishya from another country come to visit! “Hands across the ocean” as Gurudeva used to say….

Bodhinatha is happy to announce the arrival of the soon-to-be-world-famous book What Is Hinduism?. Sixty copies have arrived of the ten thousand printed and the book is being stocked at our distribution service in Michigan and will soon be in our web store product line. Stay tuned for more as time goes on.

Here he is giving away a copy and plans to follow Gurudeva’s footsteps with book signing for guests and pilgrims.

Jayshree and her husband from Winnepeg, Canada came for their third visit. Jayshree likes to chant Sri Rudram in Kadavul Temple just like she does at home. They are both interested in joining the next Innersearch program to Cambodia, Malaysia and India.

Bodhinatha answers pilgrims’ questions and refers to the Karma Management chapter of What Is Hinduism?

Mr. and Mrs. Nankisoor are from Mississagua near Toronto, from Trinidad originally. They are both teachers and showed lots of appreciation to Bodhinatha for Hinduism Today magazine presenting the traditions in modern language. They expressed sadness that Hindu kids are being raised on Puranic stories that posit the Gods as getting angry, fighting and killing, etc. Bodhinatha signed the very first copy of our new book What Is Hinduism?, for them to take home.

It was tour day today, and over 120 visitors came to the monastery!

The entire Aadheenam was strewn with debris due to excessively strong Kona winds (winds from the Southwest that usually carry stormy weather) and rain yesterday.

Nevertheless this did not deter this family who braved the elements to arrive for the morning abishekam as well as a tour of the Iraivan Temple complex.

Here is Karthik, Preeti and their 5-year-old daughter Samika, from Los Angeles (originally Chennai).

Another couple joined us at the Iraivan Temple site. James Long from Missouri and Cara Mia Gambina from Kapaa on our own island.

Karthik, Preeti and Samika outside Kadavul Hindu Temple beside “Nandi.”