Bodhinatha looking very bright on an excursion during the Innersearch first day in Te Nau, New Zealand

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Announcement:

Panchangams for 2007 and 2008 are now online. If you had difficulties yesterday, please try again to day. We think all is well now.

Recently a long time devotee of Gurudeva, and past Innersearch participant, retired actor, Dee Pollack (who some may recall played in the series Bonanza years and years ago)…passed away. He had requested that he receive the proper Hindu rites.

Yogita (Ruth Anne Delph,on the right) is also a long time student and close friend of Dee’s having met him on Innersearch. Yogita, a regular pilgrim to Kauai, has been instrumental in helping Dee’s family see to the fulfilment of Dee’s final dream. She helped all his relatives come together on Kauai and have his ashes ceremoniously distributed in the ocean at the mouth of the Wailua River, with the help of Kulapatis Deva Katir and Deva Seyon. This is Dee’s son, Kai from Germany, a wonderful young man who is very interested to learn about his father’s spiritual and religious affiliations.

At home today the crane came and a few more roof stones were sent up…

Here is a short video taken from a cell phone.

We continue with our retrospective series from Innersearch. Today’s set show scenes from the drive from Queenstown to the remote resort in Te Nau….and trips to nearby places from Te Nau…

Next day…..Puvaneswary Roberts from Holland sits out in the sun to warm up before our ride out to Milford Sound.

A 1000 or more sheep block the highway as we try to edge past them

Speaking of animals we also have another small video of Bodhinatha feeding a kangaroo in Australia:

A quick stop at Mirror Lake

In the low lying mountains there is still snow present.

Entering Homer tunnel, 1 mile long.

[to be continued tomorrow]

On the retreat some monks went to the ancient and beautiful sacred area of Mahaulepu on the southside of Kauai… There one finds ancient caves and areas much beloved by the Hawaiians in days of yore.

Rudy Tanzi chats with Bodhinatha on the flight from Australia to New Zealand a few days ago. Our photo documentary of the journey continues below and we will offer short segments daily.

Meanwhile these photos are behind real time and the actual new is that the Innersearch is drawing to a close… Yesterday was the last day of classes and today was a long travel day from North to South New Zealand by train through spectacular scenary.



Announcement:
2006-7 and 2007-8 Panchangams
Now Online!

It was a quiet Sun One beginning to our new phase. The crane came today to lift a few stones. And the publications team is very focused on Hinduism Today.

Thai Pongal fell during our retreat and it was celebrated in the traditional manner by our silpis at the patrai, the blacksmith’s shed. The pot of milk-rice is on the fire in the blacksmith’s forge…

One of the monks joked this is the only pongal fire which could either boil the rice or melt the pot!

Our wonderful temple building team!

Kumar turns the hand rotating bellows. The beauty of old fashioned tools: they rarely break down, they do not require electricity or gasoline, they do make any pollution.

Adding some sugar now…

cardamom and spices…

The duck Sambandar is on hand to watch and partake of anything we may offer.

Arumugaswami breaks the coconut.

The rice has over flowed and next, the puja… done by Shanmugam Sthapati. He offers the flame to a picture of Gurudeva on the altar at left.

Passing the flame…

Yoginathaswami also offers arati to Gurudeva…

Limes are offered and then cast to the four directions, a ceremony to eliminate inauspicious elements from the coming year.

At the Sydney airport ready to head off to Christchurch New Zealand…

It was an early start for us today, departing Dooralong at 5:30am. a 2-hour drive took us to the Sydney airport.

The flight into New Zealand was spectacular as we flew across the Southern Alps.

We first landed in Christchurch in the south island then took another flight from there to Queenstown.

Amazing scenery from the plane.

Lots of farmland with these tall windbreaks,

Finally….we land in Queenstown

Boarding our bus…

A 2.5 hour drive through some beautiful countryside took us to Te Anau. Along side the road were a few of the country’s 40 million sheep. There are 4.1 million people.

Our hotel in Te Anau

It is the last day of our phase and we had a powerful Tiruvembavai puja today in Kadavul. All the monks took the morning off to enjoy the ceremonies and talk with our guests.

No photos from Innersearch, but we have these short notes from Bodhinatha:

Yesterday:

A day of travel. We left the Dooralong Valley Resort at 5:30 pm, drove to Sydney, took a plane to Christchurch, New Zealand, a connecting flight to Queensland, NZ and then a two and a half hour bus drive to Te Anau and checked in at the Te Anau Hotel and Villas. It is right across the street from this huge lake, which is quite impressive. Everyone is charmed with the place already.

Today was an interesting all-day excursion to Milford Sound. The going and coming took about 5 1/2- 6 hours but was well worth it. Jagged rock peaks with small glaciers were seen along the route and other extraordinary scenery. The cruise on the sound was 2 1/2 hours, quite unique. The sound, which is really a fiord, was carved by a large glacier. The water in the lake is 1,000 feet deep. Pictures are needed to convey how interesting it is.

[Picture coming next phase]
Everyone in the group felt it was a special destination for sure.

This is one of the most holy days of the year. Lord Nataraja dance in Chidambaram on this day. We had full Nataraja Abhishekam in Kadavul. Photos are not allow of the Deities so we too this on of the giant painting of Pradosha Siva….

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 Tritya Tithi, Sun One, Monday, January 16th

Note on Aadheenam Email issues All ISP’s are now accepting mail from hindu.org except yahoo.com. So, if yahoo is your email service you may not be receiving any mail from us at all, replies to your emails obviously are not possible. Please contact your Yahoo service and explain that you are not receiving mail from hindu.org and need to.

The monks had the morning off to enjoy the puja. Yogi Japendranatha takes a moment to check email before going to the temple to help with the ceremonies.

We really want to thank Kulamata Isani Alahan and Brahmacharini Shama Kumara and Lila Shaktidevi for all their hard work hosting guests during the holiday season.

Isani is now fully trained “Mini-Mela” manager, clerk, sales lady… and takes care of all the sales. Someone was surprised to see her working on a hi-tech Mac and took picture of here there.

Smile for our camera!… It is tour day and very busy as people purchase books and religious items to take home.

In the middle is young 10-year-old Tristen and mother from Alaska, left and right, a retired couple from UK we asked to join the photo.

We made Tristen this promise: that when he went home he could go to January 12th on TAKA and find his picture and we promised to say:

Aloha, Tristen! Come visit again… Though young Tristen is an avid reader and picked up a copy of every free card, poster, picture, pamphlet and magazine we offered… A nice collection for him back home in Alaska.

This is a great series from Pancha Ganapati celebrations in Malaysia. I would say our mission there really knows how to have fun! Short captions come from our reporter there…

Everyone quietly assembled for the puja….

All the ladies in concentration…

Our young pujari, Nutanaya

Our guest of honour for the day, Lord Ganesha!

“And let the games begin!!!!”

Our talaivar being a great sport

This smart child won “guess the number of sweets” contest

Little Yajatadeva is “best-dressed” for the day

It’s time to bring out some ida currents from our pingala lot–the appa’s being dressed as ammas.

Our young designers hard at work

“errrr, amma, I think we need some help here”

Is that really Kulapati Sivajnani?

what is dressing up without some catwalk?

pretty tough looking “amma”

Amma, your smile’s excellent, but, err…watch your step!

Such humbleness….

“She” definitely looks confident on the runway

Brother Guna just couldn’t help looking at the mirror!

Kulamatha Amala wonders “Oh my, I wonder what they have instore for me?”

Oh! what now?

Getting all set for some action

Voila!The reincarnated “nearly” Ganesha.

Awww, isn’t he magnificent?

Wow, such a big belly! He must’ve eaten loads of modaka balls!

Magnificent!! Ganesha is so ecstasic that He dances the “Ganesha gautham” in joy!

Our next game – the wetter ur face gets, the better!

Of course, it’s time to tuck into some scrumptious lunch

Surprise, everyone! Ganesha has arrived to end our day with gifts!

Oh, thank you sooo much!

Here is Bodhinatha taking a break between his classes….

Meanwhile, the Innersearchers participate in a group discussion.

It’s about a 10 minute walk from the conference room where the classes take place to our cabins.

A beautiful walk through majestic eucalyptus trees filled with unique birds singing away.

A beautiful sunny day and the resort is an amazing place of beauty.

That evening we had dinner outdoors on the deck of the restaurant.

Kulapati and Kulamata Mardemootoo from Mauritius.

A view of the dining room at night.

The path back to our cabins and other areas.

Some of the trees are beautifully lit up.

The vegetarian fare has been of a very high standard on this journey.

Day 7 (Jan 11th): Off to the Reptile Park.

Sadhaka Nilakantha one of our monastic staff…

Kailash Dhaksinamurthi who is helping to coordinate the Innersearch studies a map of the park.

Hema Patel sits on high ground for safety during a live reptile show.

Emus

We happen to meet with 3 sadhus from the Swami Narayan order who happen to also be visiting the Reptile Park.

Bodhinatha meets a Koala bear….

They are very gentle and accept human attention without any reservations…

Meandering through the park to see various native animals.

Meeting with the kangaroos

Holding a baby Aussie crocodile.

Sadhaka Dandapani’s job as a coordinator is often challenging and sometimes even life threatening.

Then we were off to Iguana Joe’s for lunch.

It is ideally located on the Brisbane waters.

Another sumptuous spread for everyone.

Dora Kovacs and Nilufer Clubwala met only a few days ago but look like they have known each other all their life.

Some Hindu visitors today at the Aadheenam. This is Hari and Tara from Springfield, Illinois

And Srinivasan and Usha from Chicago, Illinois

It is another peaceful, quiet day at Kauai Aadheenam, few visitors, sun and gentle showers. The sense of “nothing is happening here” pervades. As Yogaswami sang “Shantam, upashantam” Peace, perfect peace.

News today from the Innersearch…

“Our stay at Dooralong Valley Resort turned warmer and sunny today, a change that allowed everyone to spend more time enjoying the beautiful grounds.

Bodhinatha had two, two-hour classes today continuing on the theme of Spiritualizing Daily Life. Again the portion where everyone was in a discussion group of 10 or so was quite inspiring and educative…everyone is amazingly energetic and animated.

Palaniswami also gave a one-hour class on Monistic versus Pluralistic Saiva Siddhanta, stretching the brains of everyone a bit. The morning Shum meditation and hatha yoga session is starting a half an hour earlier by popular demand so more can be covered.

The quality of the vegetarian meals is quite high and getting compliments as well.

The whole place here is so ideal for Innersearch. Natural and full of animal life. Innersearchers from Malaysia and Singapore feel they have gone to a new world. Wild animals (family of deer on our cabin grounds this morning, and the wildest-sounding birds you ever heard in your life, something like a banshee in a late-night movie.)”

Here is Bodhinatha giving classes in Australia… More news below, but first, photos are arriving from various celebrations of Gurudeva’s Jayanthi observed in Bangalore and Sri Lanka.

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At the carving site in Bangalore, a puja for Gurudeva done by Jiva Rajasankara assisted by his son, Senthil.

In Karnataka state it is not unusual to see Siva lingams with metal “kavacham” or coverings that are carved like the face of Lord Siva. Here we have Gurudeva’s likeness in granite.

All the silpis in attendance.

Here is a very precious and rare photo of Gurudeva installing the Siva linga in the shrine of the Subramuniya Kottam in Sri Lanka. Thondunathan writes on January 5th:

“It was exactly 23 years ago today, January 5, 1983,his 56th birthday, Gurudeva brought the Shanthi Lingam from Kauai Aadheenam and placed it in the Temple sanctum in Kopay.”

Sri Shanthi Lingam

The Temple’s Chief Priest Sivasri Pranathartihara Kurukkal and Rishipathi Kanagaratnam performing the Krittika Deepam puja Sankalpam, last November….

Jan 7th (Day 2):This morning we checked out of our hotel in Sydney and drove to Strathfield where the Sivathondan Nilayam had rented a hall to conduct the monthly Yogaswami puja.

There were about 300 people in attendance.

The Innersearchers commented later what a beautiful and spiritual event it was.

This group of extremely talented ladies sang Natchintanai songs so devotionally all morning.

Sri Manickavasagar who sang for Yogaswami many times in the past amazed us all with the way he sang. So full of love! It is no wonder that Yogaswami told him once to sing to him for 90 minutes straight.

Bodhinatha presents the Sivathondan Nilayam with a painting of Satguru Yogaswami. Sri Siva Pasupathy receives it on behalf of the Sivathondan Nilayam.

Bodhinatha does the final arathi.

Everyone comes up for vibhuti blessings.

Sri Manickavasagar.

Mr. Pasupathy is the one who took this rare photograph of Satguru Yogaswami. He presents it to Bodhinatha. It is one of 5 photographs ever taken.

It is a wonderful time to connect with devotees of Yogaswami in Sydney.

After morning puja we were served a delicious Jaffna style lunch.

Then we drove over 90 minutes north to Dooralong. This is our resort home for the next 4 nights.

It has 360 acres of land with ponds, lakes and an incredible amount of wild life.

There are cabins in the woods that house 2 or 3 Innersearchers each.

Ganga Sivanathan from Adelaide checks into her very homely wooden cabin.

Dora and Rudy find a moment to play volleyball. The resort is also filled with many sporting facilities.

The first event of the day is an introductory class with Bodhinatha.

Our classes take place daily in the Watangan conference room which overlooks the resort ponds and land.

Group discussions are part of Bodhinatha’s classes. Everyone is having such a good time that they want the classes to keep going.

Some discussions take place outdoors in the fresh countryside air and sun.

Jan 9th (Day 4): One of the most popular activities at the resort is horse riding. Arjunan Subramaniam from Malaysia (left) and Manon Mardeemootoo from Mauritius (right) loved the horse rides.

Lisa Marston from California.

“Giddyup!” says Saravananathaswami “and stop eating the grass, horsey”

Sadhaka Jivanandanatha after a great horse ride through the bush. His horse Clarissa was very well behaved.

Palaniswami talks to Usha Shastri (from Oregon)

Palaniswami conducts a class on karma.

We saw a pack of wild kangaroos and some deer during our horse ride.

Sadhaka Jivananda pats Storm the donkey.

The Jilliby restaurant which is beautifully built is where we have all our meals.

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry…….do you know that song?

A beautiful sunny day.

The resort is everything we hoped for and more.

Sadhaka Dandapani sends us photos from Jan 6th and on to today from the Innersearch group in Australia…

“Jan 6th: Surrinder Jain interviews Bodhinatha in the hotel room. Surrinder produces shows for a community TV station and they are planning to do a documentary series of Bodhinatha’s talks in Sydney.”

Our first official event for the Innersearch, traditionally called the Crows Nest Meeting – a meeting to get to know one another.

Bodhinatha welcomes everyone and shares with them some of the topics that he plans to cover in his classes in the days ahead.

The monks lovingly produced a study guide for each participant that covers the classes during Innersearch. Bodhinatha hands one to Rudy Tanzi, from Boston.

That evening the group visits the Sydney Murugan Temple. It’s a beautiful temple built in the traditional style.

The monks are welcomed with garlands and a rose for each Innersearcher.

There were about 700 to 800 people at the temple. Local Hindus commented that it was one of the largest crowds they had seen to welcome a swami.

Ganga Sivanathan and Devi Tandavan take their first official step into Hinduism by taking their namakarana samskara.

After the puja, Bodhinatha went to the cultural hall next to the temple to give a talk titled “Devotion to Lord Murugan”

The hall was packed and many were outside unable to get in.

The Nagaratnam family, these young boys and girls, oversaw the literature distribution on behalf of the aadheenam.

Palaniswami introduces Bodhinatha to the crowd.

Bodhinatha honors Mrs Nageswari Nadarajah for being a long time supporter of Iraivan Temple and Hinduism Today.

She often collects money from family and friends and sends them to the aadheenam for Iraivan Temple. A certificate is presented to her.

Dr. and Mrs Nagaratnam are also honored for their help with Iraivan Temple over the years. They were the first people to sponsor a stone, the gomukai, for Iraivan. The gomukai happen to be the last stone that Gurudeva put in place with his own two hands. They also sponsored the East Chinna Gopuram.

Jan 7th (day 2): Innersearchers walking through Sydney city with a monorail above them.

Josan Feathers and Chudika Mahadevan admire a beautiful fountain.

Making our way along the wharf in Darling Harbour to our boat, Magistic Two, for a cruise on the harbour.

Bodhinatha enjoying the view from above.

Shelah Young and Carole Kahn full of smiles.

Bodhinatha poses with Deva, Gayatri & Shivani Rajan (right) and Priya Alahan (left)

Palaniswami talks to Rudy and Dora as we sail past the Opera House.

A view of the beautiful city of Sydney.

It was an absolutely smashing day and the views from the boat were spectacular.

Easan Katir from California, happy to be here with Bodhinatha and sends his love back to his family who view TAKA daily.

Dr Nagaratnam, from Sydney, gets to know Krishnan Mariappan from Singapore.

Sadhaka Jivananda enjoys a conversation with Panjan Nagaratnam and Ainkaran Krishnarajah.

Palaniswami with the Wigneswarans who have been extremely helpful with coordinating Bodhinatha’s visit to Sydney.

Innersearch is a wonderful opportunity to get to know the monks better.

After the cruise we feasted on a wonderful Malaysian/Singaporean lunch.

After lunch we strolled to the Outback Centre for a live didjeridoo performance.

Later that evening we headed to Circular Quay. A Holland America cruise ship makes its way past the Opera House.

A Chinese dinner at the Peking Imperial. A restaurant with a million dollar view of the harbor bridge and Opera House. They serve some amazing contemporary chinese cuisine.

Our traditional Innersearch group photo.

Back home at the Aadheenam we start up a five-day phase after a quiet retreat. One very important package has arrived from India!

Here are the five volumes of Ajita Agama in Sanskrit and English translation. These are very important text for our Saiva tradition.

This section of the Ajita Agama deals primarily with the ritual worship of the Siva linga and related temple ceremonies.

Beneath the banyan tree the Six-Faced Shanmuga Murthi awaits it’s time to be raised and installed. Yoginathaswami discusses the operation with Shanmugam Sthapati.

We have him carefully protected. Since the banyan tree will prevent a regular lift by crane, it will need to be done by the silpis themselves. But first a solid base must be made.

The temple tank for Kadavul, with the murthi the young Saint Sambandar in the distance.

Our month long dry spell has broken with showers these past few days. With our Satguru away with five of the monks, the Aadheenam is blissfully quiet. But we still have a steady stream of visitors each morning. We thought that by now it would have abated, but many have extended holidays. Each one is overwhelmed with the peace and sanctity that permeates that Aadheenam atmosphere.

Jai Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami! Happy Gurudeva Jayanthi: Today is Gurudeva’s Jayanthi and we are filled with bliss and gratitude for all that he has given us… As Paramacharya Ceyonswami wrote when he email the above photo around to everyone today:

Gurudeva didn’t go anywhere; he didn’t leave us…He’s right here all the time!

Here is Bodhinatha at the home of the Nagaratnam’s in Australia… the Guru puja for Gurudeva’s Jayanti was done last night there on the eve of Innersearch… more news below…

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, Sunday, January 8th.

p.s. The Aadheenam is experiencing some issues with email security and while we sort this out you may not get any emails from us. Stay tuned.

Today is the auspicious day of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya Jayanthi, celebrated here with Pada puja.

We offer the words of Siva Yogaswami on this sacred day of remembrance of our beloved Gurudeva:

“He is the Sat-Guru, who is Self-luminous.
He is beyond the plane of objective consciousness.”

“It is the Guru’s grace, his infinite grace, his ineffable, perennial fount of grace, that alone can endow man with a deep insight into the soul of things.”

“He illumines everyone to see by the light of grace radiating
within each being. His rays also lightens the universe which
is constructed of the five elemental powers. Who can see if
he Luminous One wills it not?”

“By the grace of my Teacher, subdued is my Ego.
By the grace of my Teacher, exhilarated is my self.
By the grace of my Teacher, intensified is my Love.
The grace of my Teacher betokens his veiling Power.”

“I see Him and yet I see Him not,
This is the annunciation of our Guru,
That wheresoever thou art, there I am–Siva, Siva.”

“By the grace of my Guru was overthrown my pride.
By the grace of my Guru, showers of grace were mine.

By the grace of my Guru, bliss infinite was mine.
By His grace myself and Guru commingled as One.”

He was Life of my life, Essence of Self in self.
He granted me the beautitude of a goodly life.
He placed his Feet on my head and protected me.
Away with spurious doubts! Such grace was mine!
He illumined me with one word Aum.
I understood the world and myself.
He gave me the experience of Oneness.
He was all pervasive like the letter A
Salutation to the feet so fragrant.

Thus did he save me from a life of allurements,
He who was beyond the reach of the See-ers,
He came like me in human form.
And enticed me by love supernal,
I learnt to walk with him on the right path.
Hail omniform light of Nallur that captivated me!
Salutation to the Holy Feet of my Guru!
“Shed all your supporting ties and bonds,” so saying
My benevolent Guru vouchsafed such grace.
His Blessed Feet Hail. All Hail.

“Salutation to the Holy Feet of my SatGuru!
He enlightened me with supra-mental consciousness,
Beyond the avenues of sense experiences.
He initiated me to know my inner self.
Look inward and realize, was his benediction.
He showered greater love than that of a mother,
And I consecrated my all at his Feet.
Salutation to the beauteous Feet of Grace!

It was also guest tour day today and just as everyone arrived a slight drizzle, then a rainbow over the temple.

About 80 guests today!

This is also the traditional day when the Annual State of the Church address is given. Bodhinatha gave this talk a few days before leaving for Australia. We share with you the text of this talk here and the audio will come on line later… watch the side bar links…

“In the membership area we will be finishing up the special study course of preparation for Vishesha Diksha which we started last year. We will then be able to give Vishesha Diksha to members who complete the course starting either later this year, or early next….”

“In the publication area, for the Saivite Hindu Religion Children s Course, Book Four is done except for the French translation which we will be receiving soon and then sending Book Four off to the printers. It is the first Saivite Hindu Religion Children s Course to include color paintings and photographs and is quite impressive. The revised artwork for books one and two from Manivel in Chennai will be completed soon and then we can print new editions. Book Five of the Children s course is already underway in English. Our Malaysian printer is about to begin printing a Lemurian Scrolls Color edition which utilizes the new color paintings of our Balinese artist Iwayan and will provide a major upgrade to this text.”

“Hinduism Today Magazine will be formally launching a digital edition by April 1, 2006. Though we have had an HTML version of the magazine on the web for many years, it lacks the color photos and attractive layouts of the print edition. The new digital edition will provide all of that plus additional features not contained in the print edition such as rich media audio and video files. Articles and ads will also contain links to websites which can be conveniently accessed if you are connected to the internet when reading the digital edition. There is no charge for the digital edition and our hope is that it will become quite popular among Hindu youth and children.”

“In the realm of Innersearch and retreat programs, we depart tomorrow for our two-week Australia/New Zealand Innersearch program with some 46 participants. It is followed by eleven additional days of temple talks, half-day seminars and attending the Tenth World Saiva Conference where we will be giving the keynote address. Additional seminars for later in the year are a one day program in Malaysia, two day program in Singapore and a two or three day program in Mauritius. An important aspect of our seminar presentations are the digital keynote presentations which have been found to be quite effective in helping the participants stay concentrated on the topics and therefore absorb more of the material.”

“As to travel, we have a September trip to Malaysia and Singapore and a December trip to Mauritius already scheduled. We tentatively have a trip to Toronto scheduled in April for the celebration of Yogaswami’s Mahasamadhi day. The date for our journey to California is the weekend of October 14-15 which will repeat last year s pattern of the fourteenth being a donor reception in San Diego and the fifteenth a donor reception in Sausalito. Invitations for 2006 kumbhabhishekams are already starting to arrive. The Montreal Murugan temple has rescheduled their kumbhabhishekam for the weekend of May 28 and the San Antonio Ardhanarishwara temple is scheduled for May 6 and 7. Additionally we are planning to attend the annual festival of the Maha Ganapati Temple in Edmonton, Canada the weekend of July first and second and the Maryland Murugan temple s Nallur Kataragama festival on May twelveth and thirteenth.”

“On the Aadheenam property, the main activity continues to be the Iraivan temple jointing. The west chinna gopuram will be completed and then work will shift to fitting the pillars, beams and ceiling stones. A capital and endowment fund raising campaign, which has the goal of raising $13.6 million in six years, will be continued. This is being coordinated by Deva Rajan with the help of Easan Katir, Dr. Shan Sunder and K. Suriyakumar. “

“We will also continue to develop our four hundred acre parcel across the river, Himalayan Acres, mainly by planting additional trees for fences, windbreaks and fruit production. Our plans for 2006 include additional ironwoods for windbreaks, Noni trees which grow quite well, and trial plantings of broad leaf Mahogany trees.”

This is Halekote N. Kumara from San Antonio Texas, a life time subscriber of Hinduism Today here on pilgrimage.

He is one of the founders of the Ardhanarisvara temple in San Antonio which will be inviting Bodhinatha to attend the Kumbhabhishekam of the temple later this year. He reviews our children’s course with Arumugaswami.

Mr. & Mrs. Manickam Ganesan from Anchorage Alaska, also lifetime subscribers of Hinduism Today, here on pilgrimage.

Jan 4th 2006 – Bodhinatha poses in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The famed Opera House of Sydney, Australia.

The bridge is spectacular and there are tours that take people on a walk on the upper arch frame of the bridge.

Bodhinatha takes a stroll in a park just at the base of the harbour bridge.

A day to rest after the long flight. We took a leisurely walk along Circular Quay and The Rocks, the wharf promenade that spans from the harbour bridge to the Opera House.

A self portrait.

An Aboriginal man entertains the crowd on the wharf with some fine playing of the didjeridoo. We had a nice chat with one of them and he explained the markings on the body. The 3 lines that are shaped like a tripundra denote purity of water.

Bruce, another entertainer on the wharf, drew a big crowd. If you want to know what he is about to do you have to make your down to The Rocks here in Sydney.

Palaniswami examining the tiles that cover the roof of the Opera House.

A view of Sydney city.

A relaxing day today before all the big coordination begins tomorrow for our Innersearch.

Jan 5th 2006 (Gurudeva Jayanthi) – we were picked up this morning by Senan Nagaratnam and taken to his parents home to celebrate Gurudeva’s jayanthi (birthday). Approaching the harbour bridge.

Dr & Mrs Nagaratnam knew Satguru Yogaswami personally and are strong devotees of his and now Gurudeva. They welcome the current guru in the lineage to their home in the traditional manner.

A beautiful shrine is set up with a photo of Yogaswami & Gurudeva. At the base of the shrine is Gurudeva’s tiruvadi.

Yogaswami had visited their home in Jaffna many times and Gurudeva had visited their home in Sydney in the mid 90’s. The Nagaratnams feel blessed to have Bodhinatha now in their home.

Sadhaka Dandapani performs the morning pada puja to Gurudeva.

Palaniswami prostrates before Gurudeva’s tiruvadi.

The shrine is beautifully decorated.

Everyone comes up to offer their love and respects to Gurudeva.

Bodhinatha have a talk and answered some questions. The first question being “Why does Ganesha have an elephant head”?

A photo with the entire family. There were about 30 of them. Some came from out state. That is a long when you are in Australia.

Ganan Nagaratnam and his daughter Nadia.

Mrs Nagaratnam with her niece, Nandini, who drove up from Canberra.

Sadhaka Dandapani with his cousin Senan Nagaratnam and his wife Shenuka. The Nagaratnam family are all part of Sadhaka Dandapani’s family.

With another cousin, Panjan Nagaratnam and wife Dushyanthi, her mother, and daughters Manisha and Shanuka.

It is a very quiet day at the Aadheenam. We are still getting a stream of casual visitors on the islands for holidays who find us in various guide books.

Today the Siddhidata Kulam gave their report at lunch. Work continues at the temple site as always with challenges for fitting stones at floor level that will later have to be a perfect fit when raised up to roof level.

Meanwhile the only news from the traveling team is that Saravananathaswami, Sadhaka Jivanandanatha and Sadhaka Nilakantha arrived safely.

It is the day before the official opening of Innersearch. Easan Katir who is on the Innersearch sends this snap shot from the airport with caption:

“Innersearch Travel Coordinator Kailash arriving in Sydney airport at 11 pm last night after traveling 19 hours from Minnesota, then getting grilled and x-rayed by custom officers over some fresh fruit in his luggage”

Apparently the official welcome in Australia is full of thorough scrutiny. The word is: declare everything when you travel down under, even the beads on your neck! It seems the Aussies are taking no chances with agricultural pests arriving that might cause serious environmental damage.

From the stunning new book, Mountains from Space, our island home. Kauai is the oldest of the island, top upper left corner. In the foreground, the tallest mountain in the world, the still erupting Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, at 31,824 feet from the ocean floor, half a mile higher than Mount Everest.

Bodhinatha was lovingly greeted at the airport by Dr. & Mrs Nagaratnam and their family and Mrs. Mathini Wigeneswaran and husband. There were about 10 of them in total with beautiful garlands for our visiting swamis. It’s Bodhinatha and Palaniswami’s first trip to Sydney.

Paramacharya Palaniswami and Sadhaka Dandapani check into their hotel in Sydney. It was a long day after a few hours of waiting in airports then an almost 10 hour flight to Sydney.

We are glad to be finally here. It’s about 25 degrees celcius today. A little cooler after the 46 degree temperature Sydney experienced 3 days ago.

Sashi Velupillay helps to move our luggage. He and his family are visiting from Melbourne and they will be there to care for Bodhinatha when he visits later this month.

Meanwhile at home the second half of the team departed this afternoon at 4: 30 pm. Left to Right: Sadhaka Nilakantha, Sadhaka Jivanandanatha and Sannyasin Saravananathaswami. They are all looking forward to this first time visit to the other side of the equator.