Here is Bodhinatha watching the abhishekam of murthis in San Antonio on his recent trip… more photos below.

Here are the silpis speaking from the Iraivan Temple foundation with two pilgrims from their homeland this morning.

In the background David Hett and wife, Gweneth, are approaching. David spent three months on Task Force in Nevada at our monastery back in 1975, and was delighted to spend some time at Gurudeva’s home today. Gweneth is a Shakespearean actress.

Deva Rajan was at the monastery all morning, working on plans that will guide the next few phases of construction of the temple.

In the shade of the Rudraksha trees he is marking the position of trees on a map that Thamby Kumaran made.

Afterwards Deva and Palaniswami took a trek to identify staging areas for future stone and lava rock and sand.

All of this information was transfered to the map for Thamby to update in VectorWorks.

The two walked the entire length of the property line to consider the best placement of a future maintenance road. Gurudeva’s vision continues to manifest, slow by slow as they say here in Hawaii. Yet it is already an awesome reality even as a still-under-construction site.

On Saturday and Sunday Bodhinatha attended the temple events in San Antonio, Texas. We bring you the story written up by Sadhaka Tejadevanatha.

This will be the future entrance to the main temple. The temple is now fundraising for a Raja Goporum at this very spot.

Today the weather was especially crisp and clear. Bodhinatha was the first to arrive at the temple.

A nice carving of ganesa at the base of the temples flag pole.

The sun is just starting to slip through the clouds.

The priest and are preparing for todays Ganesha Homa.

The homa pit is decorated and ready for agni.

Our Saiva priest begins the invocation of Lord Ganesha

Bodhinatha blessing the ceremony

the homa begins

many devotees take part in the homa

The kumbha water has been energized and now making its way to the main temple then on to the Ardhaanaarishwara temple

Bodhinatha also in the procession

Entering the temple

Ganesha receives abhishekam from the homa charged kumbha water

a side shrine to Lord Skanda

Siva

milk abhishekam

more milk

and more milk

tumeric water

Now we are at the Ardhanaarishwara temple.
To the left is Dr. Rao a strong supporter of Gurudeva

Bodhinatha meditates inside the shrine as the Kumbhabhishekam begins.

More pictures tomorrow….

Bodhinatha arrived home today from San Diego, looking bright and full of energy.

Late this afternoon all the monks gathered at the front of the monastery.

Sadhaka Tejadevanatha was accompanying Bodhinatha. He has more photos from the trip we will share with you in the days ahead.

The traditional blessings in the temple upon arrival home.

Today the Siddhidata Kulam shared news at lunch. Sadhaka Adinatha brought this banana flower stem for show and tell.

It is about seven feet long.

Another natural wonder: Taro roots. This is a traditional food of the Hawaiians. Taro root has an interesting, healthful quality. Unlike most starchy foods, the taro root is an alkalizing food, like fruits and vegetables.

Bodhinatha had another dynamic day yesterday in San Antonio and then today went for a long drive to visit Barsana Dham in Austin. He arrives home tomorrow.

Our photographer went for a stroll to Iraivan today.

Do you know what is special about this photo? Guess!

The scaffolding has been removed and you are looking a a final, finished section of the roof line.

Up on top of the temple the silpis continue work on the west side roof area. We have been having our classic Kauai weather of late. Brief sprinkles of rain interspersed with bright sunshine. Our Siddhidata Kulam has made the protective tent for the silpis to work under.

Our reporter in Mauritius is having some camera challenges, but meanwhile he is digging into the archives and sending us some telling “vignettes” of the spiritual work that goes on there.

Welcome to the Spiritual Park of Mauritius! A view of the Ganesha Mandapam from the wooden bridge. Since its construction the Mandapam has strengthened faith in many Hindus of the island.

To cope with the large flow of worshippers who attend the Ganesha Homa on the first Sunday of every month, a smaller shrine with a smaller Pancha Ganapati murthi has been built just a few meters from the Mandapam.

The roof is actually being covered with blue sloping tiles just like those on the roof of the Mandapam.

Inside has been installed a small Pancha Mukha Ganapati where devotees can make offerings and receive Blessings of Lord Ganapati!

Brahmachari Vel and Naden Caremben cleaning the murthi as a seva…

A view of the Ganesha Mandapam when no visitors are around. The photos of Gurudeva and Bodhinatha enhance the spiritual atmosphere of the place.

Some of the students of the Saivite Hindu Religion Saturday class wanted to have a photo with Bodhinatha…They are actually studying Book Four.

The Holy feet of Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati! In a vision Gurudeva saw Lord Ganesha walking, accompanied by two priests at that very place…

We now leave the Mandapam and the Spiritual Park to go to Grande Retraite in Flacq region where was held a gathering for Master Course students. The lesson of the day was based on a Talk by Bodhinatha entitled ” My Friend, Lord Ganesha”.

Bodhinatha’s talk aimed at deepening participants’ devotion and making their relationship with the Lord of Obstacles more practical and profound. A few highlights of the talk were the miracles/visions of Lord Ganesha in ancient and modern times, developing a closer relationship with Lord Ganesha, having a home shrine, temple worship, the eleven ways in which Lord Vinayaka can benefit our day-to-day life, the six common situations in which the worship of Lord Ganesha is particularly helpful ….

Testimonies were shared by participants on what they have learned and applied in their lives in previous lessons. Such testimonies were mainly centered on now adopting a new attitude when facing difficult situations/karma in the light of what they are learning from Bodhinatha’s talk and their MC lessons.

Yesterday (Saturday) and today the major ceremonies were held in San Antonio, Texas. Here is Bodhinatha with the young children’s group that led the congregation in bhajans.

Excerpts from reports from Bodhinatha follow and accompany photo captions.

Saturday:

Today at the temple was the morning for the Hanuman Kumbhabhishekam. This was a simple half day ceremony for the 14th anniversary of the shrine.

After a short delay while a brief thunderstorm passed by, the ceremonies began.

About one hundred devotees were in attendance. The ceremony was kumbha puja, homa, abhishekam and archana, about two and a half hours total. There are two resident priests one from Tamil Nadu and the other from Andra Pradesh who performed the ceremony.

Our two priest Krishna Bharttar, left and Rama Linga Shastri right perform the homa with strong devotion and precise sanskrit chanting.

The main deity is Venkateshwara with a side shrine with Ganesha and another side shrine with Siva, Parvati and Murugan. Outside are separate enclosed shrines for Hanuman and Ardhanarisvara. The Ardhanarisvara is a murthi gifted by Gurudeva.

Bodhinatha chants along with the two priests.

Today, Sunday, the same puja pattern was followed but to Ardhanarisvara, kumbha puja, homa, abhishekam and archana.

A photographer from the San Antonio Express took lots of photos for the article they are doing which includes an interview with me done at the hotel. It will be Interesting to see how it turns out.

Afterwards I gave my talk on “service” for about forty minutes.

The day began with a powerful thunder storm and heavy rain.

The homa flames rise high as the tempe devotees chant along with priest.

Aum Shree Anjaneya

The kumba is on route to the main temple

The rain devas allowed the sun to shine for this very special occasion.

Blessing from Maha Vishnuji

Bodhinatha close behind

We have arrived at the Anjaneya (Hanuman) temple

Bodhinatha sits inside the shrine

The view from Anjaneya shrine is spectacular.

devotees sit outside in bliss

Let the milk flow, jai Anjaneya

Here comes the tumeric water

Now the panchamritam

finally the kumba water energized by the earlier homa

Bodhinatha gives a discourse to the devotees.

Following Bodhinatha’s talk a few children from the temple performed a short skit and sang bhajans

Here are the children leading everyone in bhajans.

Bodhinatha gives a nice talk on devotion.

Anjaneya is garlanded and decorated for the final arati.

Dr. Kumara is todays Master of Ceremonies introducing Bodhinatha

the final arati is passed around

Back home at the Aadheenam we go for a walk outside.

An unusual shot taken from the Rishi Valley Pond showing the overpass that leads to Iraivan Temple.

Today a special orchid is blooming in Siva’s Sacred Garden. Red and white, Siva and Shakti.

It is commonly known as Chocolate Orchid, and indeed it smells exactly like a piece of chocolate. What will Siva think of next?

Our visiting mother, Amma in Tamil, was taken by Palaniswami and son Yogi Japendranatha on a mysterious trek.

After some suspenseful moments, they reached a small propagation field where genetic crosses of the Hawaiian ti plant are being raised from seed.

Amma was given a note to read as she stood near an especially charming cultivar. This is her surprise upon finding out the purpose of the walk.

Inside the note said that the monastery is naming this ink beauty “Amma Vicki,” after her.

A few tears of gratitude and astonishment later, Amma puts an aluminum plant tag on the stalk, so it joins our identification system.

Later it will be moved to the main ti garden that is one of the choice collections of the monastery.

Amma Vicki poses with “Amma Vicki.”

And with Japendranatha.

On the way back she noted, “Such a perfectly wonderful day, and it’s only 11am!”

Here is Bodhinatha giving a talk in San Antonio where he is now with Sadhaka Tejadevanatha. He was invited to attend the Mahakumbhabhishekam of this temple where Gurudeva has been years ago when it started.

The temple has a rarely seen Diety: Ardhanarisvara.

Tejadeva sends us photos and captions. He says:

“Bodhinatha was especially magnetic during his talk. One of the temple trustees commented that Bodhinatha speaks in such clear and concise way.”

Meanwhile at home we started a new phase with a quiet Sun One homa this morning.

Bodhinatha’s wonderful host in San Antonio,
Mr. and Mrs. Pemmaraju. Both have known Gurudeva since 1974 during the San Francisco days and both have traveled to Kauai several times. During dinner they had many wonderful stories to say about Gurudeva and his legacy that Bodhinatha is carrying forward.

The weather in San Antonio is a warm 85 degrees. Here is the end of a awesome sun set in these open Texas skies.

Bodhinatha’s accommodations are sponsored by Ramesh and Hansa, owners of The Comfort Inn San Antonio. The rooms are quite lovely with a nice pool.

Bodhinatha and his team always travel with a simple shrine. First thing upon arriving to any new destination they set up the shrine.

Today Bodhinatha was interviewed by the Michael Parker, a journalist with the San Antonio Express. Several years back Michael had the pleasure of interviewing Gurudeva during his visit to San Antonio.

Thank you Michael for the great interview.

Bodhinatha is greeted by the two priests of the San Antonio temple. Krishna Bharattar on the right and Rama Linga Shastri on the left. One Vaishnava and one Saiva.

Here thirty or so devotees of the temple gathered to listen to Bodhinatha’s talk on “Status and Role of Hindus and Hinduism today in the US and Abroad.”

This is cultural center located behind the temple.

Inside the cultural center.

Another breath taking view from the temple grounds. We don’t see such wide open expanses on our little island of Kauai.

The temple is perched on a hill top viewing untouched country side. What a spectacular location! It reminds one of Palani Hills.

This is the Ardhanarishwara that Gurudeva gave to the San Antonio Hindu community several years ago so they could build a temple. Ardhanarishvara is located in a smaller temple next to the main temple.

The main temple diety is Maha Vishnu.

Our two priests listen intently as Bodhinatha speaks.

Bodhinatha was busy today, talking to all the monks, making his last-minute preparations for a journey to San Antonio, Texas tonight. So many things to coordinate.

~~~~~~~~~~~
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, Saturday, May 6th.

Sadhaka Dandapani is helping with the arrangements.

Bodhinatha also held meetings on Hinduism Today, on future pans for articles and outreach, and more.

Some wonderful events are planned for Texas and he is taking a special talk on Lord Siva.

Computers were an important part of the day in the Ganapati Kulam.

Vicki Hamilton and Yogi Japendranatha look at the open Apple XServe. Visiting Apple Computer technician, Carmel Hawn, is changing out the logic board.

Yogi is responsible for the server, which is our central brain for the many projects that the monastery undertakes, so he is naturally curious how it is going.

Vicki and son took a tour of Iraivan Temple afterwards. Lots of progress since our mom’s last visit.

Meanwhile, out in the Sacred Rudraksha Forest, the only one in the Western world that we know of.

The forest is used by pilgrims, and is a sheltered corner of the San Marga Sanctuary, open daily from 6 to 6.

Bodhinatha wants to have a better barrier to soften the traffic on nearby Kuamoo Road.

So we are planting several hundred Mock Orange trees to make a thick hedge.

John Anderson brought his Bob Cat to dig a trench for the hedge.

Also new is the Arid or Desert Garden, not far from Rishi Valley.

Palaniswami and Satya Subramaniam are placing rocks and planting small arids.

When they mature, they will make for some spectacular viewing. This is an agave.

A “Frosted Cookie Cactus.”

A yucca up close.

And back at the Aadheenam, our renovated heated fresh water aquarium now has some amazing Diskus fish from the Amazon. A short video on our new companions.

Sun Five Today. The Ganapati Kulam gave its report for this phase. It was simple: All eyes and hands focused on completion of the July issue of Hinduism Today, plus some projects including reprinting of Loving Ganesha and Lemurian Scrolls in Malaysia, digital edition details, archiving Gurudeva’s thousands of inspired talks, our newest book, “What Is Hinduism?” and more

As Gurudeva would so often say with a wry smile, “Ho, hum, another day in paradise.”

It’s Sun 5 and Palaniswami and Yoginathaswami drive out for the weekly review of work that is underway at the Iraivan temple.

Climbing the ladders to the roof where the team is focused lately.

They are installing stones along the roofline.

Great view from here. A view no one will have again when the temple is completed.

With small bars, they move the 500-pound stones into place with great precision.

Here you get a glimpse of the “snake course,” which surrounds the temple at the roof level. This snake represents the kundalini of man, his mystical spiritual force.

Lots of care to assure the stones are perfectly level.

If one stone is wrong, it multiplies the problem of fitting every other stone down the line.

Vellaiasamy takes a close look.

Nearby the first of six crocodile rain spouts is secured. Rains on the roof will exit through his mouth.

Yoginathaswami shows the inside of the crock, where the water will enter a channel leading to his mouth.

Carefully designed so it can be easily cleared should leaves clog the opening.

Two stones being brought together.

Karuppiah poses for our camerman.

A giant wooden mallot, about 18 inches long at the head, serves to nudge stones without chipping them.

The small wedges serve to level the stones during the fitting process.

This morning our amma, Vicki Hamilton, arrived for a ten-day stay on Kauai. She and son Yogi Japendranatha enjoyed some green tea in the Mango Mandapam.

Welcome, Vicki. We’ve been looking forward to your arrival.

We showcase today an intricate colored pencil artwork by Natarajnathaswami, of Ganesha, Lord of the Muladhara chakra, seen below with its four petals. The three worlds are here, and on the left a great rishi is ascending in his body of light to the Siva Loka where the mahadevas await his arrival.

A detailed close-up of the lower corner showing the intricacy of this art.

A small note from our Bangalore village where Iraivan is being carved.

Our site manager, Jiva Rajasankara, has lived at the Iraivan village in Bangalore for 13 years. Each day, without fail, he guides the complicated tasks of the quarrymen, the carvers, the shippers and architects. He also teaches from Gurudeva’s trilogy, so the families have a spiritual dimension to their hard-working lives. Each morning Jiva brings all the sculptors together for a 6:30am puja and some bhajan singing.

Jiva was inspired today to feed the monks of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, in honor of his father who has passed away. It is a tradition in the East to feed the monks to bring blessings to the family.

Jiva’s wife, Kanmani, is a stalwart strength to the Iraivan project and her family. One of her loves is animals, which she raises in the family home at the site. Her dog, Mushika, is seen above with Jiva on the bench and also at the morning satsang. And here she is with the family parrot and two little squirrels.

Sun Four today.

The Siddhidata Kulam (“SK”) shared news today at lunch. They have had three extra on their team this phase. Satya Subramaniam, Paul Hardman and now Aubrey Burke from Vancouver.

“Bullet points” from SK report:

• Guha roofs being upgraded by a professional roofer, so that monks do not need buckets to catch water leaks around their bed.
• New vehicles being studied and learned about
• On-going work at the temple and garden
• Continuing work on the new parking area at the front of the monastery
• Landscaping routines as usual
• Catching chickens for relocation to other island homes (smile)

We have no photos from the Aadheenam today. It’s a beautiful quiet day…

Here is Siva Yogaswami worshiping the feet of his Satguru, Chellappaswami.

Though Yogaswami often spoke from the heights of advaitic realizations, he was also a devout bhaktar whose life revolved around daily worship.

Sun Three today. The Pillaiyar Kulam reported on activities. Shanmuganathaswami is working, as he is always doing, on aspects of Hinduism Today subscription management. This time it was a renewal mailing which is handled by Kulamata Amala Seyon (thank you, Amala!)

He also helped prepare our first shrink-wrapped mailing of free literature for those who sign up at event promotions.

Sadhaka Jothinatha has been busy preparing the ad pages of the current issue of Hinduism Today that goes to press next week.

Sadhaka Jivanandanatha reported some major improvements and innovations on our web site by our associate IT man, Andre, who lives in Brazil.

Mr. Narendra and Mrs. Dhiraj Nanavati visited us from New Jersey today.

They are devotees of Swami Buaji Maharaj of New York, the amazing 118-year-old yogi who visits Kauai’s Hindu Monastery each Guru Purnima, and had heard much from him about our monastery.

They finally made it to the Garden Island and really enjoyed the monastery vibration and hearing about Gurudeva’s powerful visions that started Kadavul Temple and Iraivan Temple.

One of our new Kawasaki utility vehicles was customized to allow for two more seats in the back. A much larger people mover is currently being built to our specifications and will be coming soon, allowing us to show visitors around Siva’s home.

The San Marga swayambhu linga, discovered by
Gurudeva in 1975, after a series of visions of Lord Siva.

The first Sunday of every month is a special day for many devout Hindus in Mauritius. They “book” this day to pilgrimage to the Spiritual Park to worship Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati there. The first Sunday of April was another big spiritual event.

The Ganesha Mandapam is always full with devotees on these occasions.

The Homa is lit and four kulapaties, the elders of the Spiritual Park, sit on the four sides to perform the ceremony.

Devotees sing devotional songs that uplifts everyone.

During the ceremony, hundreds of notes addressed to the inner worlds are sent through the sacred fire.

A youth rings the bell while notes are being burnt and the sacred mantras are chanted.

Kulapati Siven Kootan welcomed the devotees. He also showed them the kalasa, the golden spires, which will be placed on the roof of the new pavilion built for a smaller Pancha Ganapati murthi.

Brahmachari Vel offers a testimony about how Lord Ganesha helped his family group.

Tirumati Caremben shared her testimony about how Lord Ganesha helped her get healed from a fever.

In his talk Kulapati Manon Mardemootoo referred to an inspiring article he read in the recent issue of Hinduism Today.

Everyone listened attentively, even those those who could not find a seat inside the Mandapam.

Every month one family or a few families pull together to offer a simple but blessed meal following the Ganesha Homa at the the Spiritual Park.

Food is served to all devotees when the ceremony is over. It is a time of sharing, conversation and upliftment of the spirits of one and all.

Mr. Vencatasamy and his son are from the south of the island. He showed his appreciation for the selfless works accomplished by all those managing the Spiritual Park.

Worship continues at the small shrine where a small Pancha Ganapati murthi has been installed.

Arash and his friend are from Sedona. They have been attending the morning Siva puja for the past week and today had darshan with Bodhinatha. This is their third visit to Kauai.

Paul Hardman has had a wonderful time on Task force and is going back home now to pursue his college education. It’s been great to have you Paul! Thanks for all your help!

At the temple some refinements are underway.

Kauai Landscaping came by to pick up some TI cuttings…

Our guest has an unusual look at silpis in the sky.

A charming Ganesha was sent to us today. Ganesha’s mushika (mouse) is clearly peeved at his new interest.