Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami arrived home yesterday from London. The traditional pada puja at the temple is performed.

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, April 3rd.

Our team at the front. “Its good to be home!”

Both are healthy and well rested after a smooth journey home with one over night in San Francisco.

It’s good to have our Satguru back with us…. and Sannyasin Arumugaswami has brought photos and the story along with him.

Though we are in Sadhu Paksha, Amarnath and Srilakshmi are visiting from Los Angeles and made the temple their first destination during their stay on the island. It’s their 1st wedding anniversary today and Bodhinatha presented them with a shawl. Both are serious about meditation and religion and asked Bodhinatha questions about the nature of God with and without form…

Friday, March 25: Bodhinatha is welcomed to the UK at the Wimbledon Ganapati Temple with pada puja.

Sannyasin Arumugaswami has about 40 photos and we will share these with you over the next few days on TAKA.

Friday, March 25: Devotees gather in the hall for the blessing by Bodhinatha. With the windows yet to be installed, it was a bit chilly until the sun came out and lit up the hall.

Friday, March 25: A hall is nearly finished at the Wimbledon temple where monthly or more frequent gatherings will be held to sing Yogaswami’s Natchintanai songs. The painting of Yogaswami and photo of Gurudeva were blessed by Bodhinatha and will be mounted in the finished hall.

Friday, March 25: Each one present came forward for Bodhinatha’s blessings while the group leader, Muruganandan (at far right) led them in singing Natchintanai songs.

Friday, March 25: The Sivayogam family welcomes Bodhinatha to their home with a pada puja. Just prior to coming here, Bodhinatha visited the Rajeswari temple, which is around the corner. We don’t have a photo from that visit, in part because our camera was not cooperating fully. Sivayogam’s provided lunch for Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami, served in their shrine room.

Friday, March 25: On the way to Highgate Murugan Temple, we took the scenic route through downtown London, fortunately light on traffic during this four-day Easter weekend. This, if we recall rightly, is the House of Lords.

Friday, March 25: An ornate church.

Friday, March 25: This slightly blurry photo is of the entrance to Buckingham Palace.

Friday, March 25: This is “Nelson’s Column” in a nearby square. All the government buildings are spread around this area of downtown London.

Friday, March 25: Bodhinatha gives a talk at the Highgate Murugan Temple. This is a large facility, like Wimbledon and Rajeswari, also a former church. The temple is on the top floor of a three-story building. They have a splendid gold-plated kodimaram which you see here.

Friday, March 25: Devotees listening to the talk.

Friday, March 25: Devotees come up to Bodhinatha for blessings after the talk. He gave them copies of the Ten Questions pamphlet, Hindu parenting and How to Visit a Hindu Temple. Ten Questions has been particularly popular in the UK. Many devotees of Yogaswami came to see Bodhinatha at each venue.

Saturday, March 26: Bodhinatha with Sinnappoo and Sivayogamalar Kumarakulasingam and their daughter. They are parents of Surya Kumar, one of the staunch supporters of Iraivan Temple.

Saturday, March 26: With three generations of the Veeragathiyar family visiting from Germany just to see Bodhinatha. Grandmother accompanied her daughter Sivapprintha, her husband and granddaughter.

Saturday, March 26: With Narayan and Chella Rao. Dr. Rao expressed his concern for the visa situation for priests in UK. The government has instituted an English requirement for all visas applicants. Dr. Rao said it was 6th level Cambridge exam which “I myself would have trouble passing,” and required considerable knowledge of England.

A dear devotee of Gurudeva’s, the late Mr. Canaganayagam of Alaveddy in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, was one of Gurudeva’s Alaveddy ashram managers (he is in the photo above with Gurudeva). Here his son Mahendra with wife Kavitha and children Majuran and Mathusha came to meet Bodhinatha at the Swami Narayanan temple in Neasdan, London.

We set up our new camera in just the perfect spot to take this picture of Iraivan… if you didn’t know it, you would think it was finished! This will go on the cover of the next edition of Island Temple magazine. Click here for a hi-res screen shot for your computer (212k download… so be patient)

Meanwhile Paramacharya Palaniswami who worked on that photo sent it to Colorado where Rajkumar Manickam has put together this dramatic poster for a big fund raiser our members are organizing to take place in San Jose in September. The famed flute protege, Shashank, who performed for us in India during the 2004 Innersearch Odyssey, will be on hand to play his incredible music. And his gifted wife will dance… don’t miss it and stay tuned for announcements.

Two of the monks have teamed up to create a new garden space near the entrance to Kadavul Temple, right next to Nandi’s pavilion. Here is a shot of the landscaping of “Nandi Gardens” which will evolve over the weeks into something special.

By the time you read this, Bodhinatha will have arrived home after a very successful mission in the UK. We want to thank especially the Sivayogam family for inviting and hosting Bodhinatha and making all the arrangements, and to Niraj Thakar and his fiance who worked on preparations for temple events, and everyone else in the UK who worked very hard to see that his visit to London went so well. Photo of Bodhinatha in Malaysia last February.

Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Ki Jai!

The day began bright and early today when pilgrim Dasan Mahadevan arrived at Kadavul Temple with his beautifully arranged offerings. Dasan is a Himalayan Academy student and about to begin his third year of study on Tamil New Year’s day, April 13. “I came at this time (from mainland, USA) because I wanted to start my third year on an auspicious note and shower it with blessings. Every time I come to the temple, I feel as though divine nectar is dripping on my head.” He plans to come again for Gurudeva’s Mahasamadhi celebrations in October, this time with his entire family.

Natarajnathaswami, graphics director for Hinduism Today, holds a precious piece of art recently donated to our monastery by Bruce and Loretta Anawalt, of Washington state, USA. It is an original Indian gouache from the mid-18th century done in Rajasthan style, Aumere School. Natarajnathaswami especially appreciates this gift as he is a student of Indian art and motifs and works with our artists in India to adorn Hinduism Today magazine and books of Himalayan Academy.

The entire Hinduism Today staff is also appreciative of the timing of this gift, coming unsought and unexpectedly just after Hinduism Today published an article on the swastika (April-May-June ’05 issue). The article sought to show that in spite of some horrid connotations from recent history, the symbol has, for Hindus, American Indians and many cultures, always served to show auspiciousness and spirituality. And this gift has come as a sign, showing this cross was and is, indeed, a joyous symbol, the floral motif showing spiritual abundance and repeating the swastika shape in superconscious realms, as it were.

Today, we received a shipment from our printers in Kansas City. Saravananathaswami shows two of the pieces. One is picture-poster of our Bodhinatha, and another is a flyer presenting our vast website and mapping its different parts and url’s.

And here is the ever-popular 16-page booklet, “Ten Questions About Hinduism and Ten Terrific Answers about Hinduism,” along with our newest booklet, also a 16-page reprint from Hinduism Today magazine, “Raising Children as Good Hindus.” This one, just out, has already struck a chord. Praise for its contents and orders for them are pouring in from Asia, Europe and America, including an Ashram in India. These and other teaching-tool booklets–ideal for teachers and parents–are available at http://www.himalayanacademy.com/teaching tools/

Bodhinatha is in San Francisco after a long flight from London and will be arriving on Kauai tomorrow.

Bodhinatha’s and Arumugaswami’s visit to London has just ended and they began the journey home early this morning, London time…

We have had a few very positive reports of his welcome there and his affect on the people he met. Niraj Thaker, pictured here with his fiancee, helped prepare some aspects of Bodhinatha’s and Arumugaswami’s visit.

He sent us this report:
“After having Bodhinatha’s Darshan, there are no words to describe the feeling. We all feel great peace and inner joy. Everything seems perfect and life seems to give us many things back. I can imagine how the Swamis and Sadhakas must feel living in the Aadheenam with the company of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!

There was a lot of interest with Gurudeva’s books, Hinduism Today and especially for the booklets (reprints of articles from Hinduism Today that each focus on, and clarify, one key aspect of Hinduism).

The day was brilliant and the moon full and beautiful.

The next day was the 3-hour Seminar on the fundamentals of Saivism. The presentations were deep, clear and wonderfully inspiring. Each one was followed by questions and answers–good questions, great answers. It was a good turnout and the youth stayed alert and enthusiastic right to the end. Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami are brilliant speakers. I am very fortunate to have had the privilege of meeting and hearing them.

The next function at the Neasden temple was a managed very well by the very impressive Swaminarayan monks. Their hospitality is impeccable and we were all made to feel most welcome and very special.

Traveling back in the tube (underground train), we felt as if everything else was alien or not real as if we had just seen supreme reality.

We are going back to our daily chores and routines of the worldly life, now, but are definitely taking with us the mystical powers of Lord Siva attained from the teachings of Bodhinatha!”

— Niraj

We had a big group of Hindus yesterday. As always, the Gujarati families are thrilled to find rudraksha beads everywhere…

Here’s an interesting story. Here we see the extended Motilal Benarsidas (MLBD) Jain family. MLBD is one of India’s oldest and most respected publishers of academic works. The MLBD imprimature is known the world over. Hardly a university in the world does not buy their books on a thousand subjects relating to India. And we featured them in the recent issue of Hinduism Today.

Gurudeva met the publishers in New Delhi in 1995. They were deeply impressed with his books.

The MLBD team begged to reprint Gurudeva’s books in India and they have done several editions. In fact, a distributor in Canada buys copies of Dancing with Siva from India and not from Hawaii, because the price is low.

Our correspondent in New Delhi, Rajiv Malik was commissioned to a story on the prestigious company and the family behind it.

They just received their copy of Hinduism Today a week back and wrote this e-mail to our editorial team in Hawaii….

“Oh my God ,what a wonderful composite story on MLBD’s family tradition. Not only was it a colourful treat for the eyes, but an extra-ordinary delight for all who read it. Our friends and relatives, who have known us for years, are all ready to go for a party.

Indeed, we are all indebted to the entire HIMALAYAN ACADEMY family for the interest shown and Rajiv Malik’s meticulous efforts in putting everything together. There have been so many write-ups on MLBD by Indian media, but yours was par excellence. We’d like to put this article on our website http://www.mlbd.com hope we have your permission.

Your cover story on HINDU PARENTING was so wonderful that Kiran Modi of Udayan Care picked up a theme from it and did a workshop for Udayan children which comes under your Udayan Care Endowment Fund. She esp. mentioned to me that she has never before read such a story on MLBD. Perhaps, your organization is gifted with extra-ordinary writing skills.

Warmest personal regards

Smt Lila Jain
NP Jain
JP Jain
RP Jain (All 3)

East China Gopuram of Iraivan that covers a small meditation mandapam.

Lion pillars of Iraivan’s East Gopuram.

Brilliant to almost blinding in the sun…

Are we in Hawaii? or is this some where in Tamil Nadu?

Bhadra pillars in front of the main sanctum.

The “sannidhya” (powerful force of sanctity that radiates out and around a holy place) of Iraivan is already very powerful

On the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Maha Sivaratri is a very important festival and public holiday.

For the Mauritian Hindu, a pilgrimage to the volcanic sacred lake of Grand Bassin is a spiritual obligation his family fulfills every year on Maha Sivaratri. This the religious place in Mauritius where Supreme God Siva is most worshipped.

The Legend goes that very long ago some deva-like beings were seen hovering over this lake. It
was considered as the local sacred Ganga River flowing from God Siva. Hence, it slowly developed into a sacred site for Saivite pilgrimage.

Every year thousands of devotees pilgrimage to Grand Bassin, also known as Ganga Talao, to worship God Siva. The festival galvanizes immense religious fervor and mass participation. Towns and villages all mobilize their energy to steer towards the sacred lake.

It is a wonderful for the whole family to worship together. Devotees take some of the lake water back with them to worship in their home shrines and at their local temples. The holy water gathered from the sacred lake is highly valued in every Hindu household.

Worshipping Ganga the traditional way…

Devotees feel the closeness of the sacred River Ganga when they stand worshipping with their feet immersed in the lake.

Siva temples have been built at the water’s edge with the Sivalingam as the main murthi. At one such temple is a jyothi lingam (photo). There are many astounding testimonies from devotees about God manifesting in this Lingam.

It has been reported that the lingam has suddenly lit up during the Maha Sivaratri puja. Recently local TV reported the manifestation of a human like figure in the lingam.

No doubt it is the most worshipped place of the sacred lake and devotees lovingly queue up for hours before getting access inside the temple.

The Ganga Talao takes on an air of of mysticism and divinity… You really feel suddenly transformed into a spiritual being when you are there.

A new project in now under way at the sacred lake. Inspired by the construction of a concrete giant statue in India, a 108-foot-tall Siva murthi is now being constructed at Grand Bassin. Here it is shown with the scaffolding used by the plaster craftsmen.

The feet of the murthi resting on a pedestal almost the height of a human being.

Here is what the Siva murthi will look like once the construction has been completed. It is being called Shri Mangal Mahadev.

Many pilgrims, especially those of the North Indian ancestry, carry on their shoulders bamboo structures (kanwars) decorated with muslin paper, tinkling bells and countless mirrors. The construction of these kanwars constitutes an artistic feat coupled with patience. Here is one such ‘kanwar’ which the pilgrims pull like a little chariot.

They depart from their homes and take the kanwar all the way to Grand Bassin, sometimes a walk on foot 15 miles or more.

We are back after a three day retreat. Tonight Satguru Bodhinatha spoke at the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, near London. There was a Sunday night satsang from 5 to 7pm, and he gave a wonderful talk, recounting some of Gurudeva’s history with Prahmukhswami Maharaj, the head of this remarkable Hindu institution. We thought you would enjoy the talk, given only hours ago!

“Our namaskars to His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj for allowing us to speak to the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission satsang. We also wish to acknowledge Sadhu Atmaswarupdas and all the other dedicated sadhus present this evening.

Our relationship with the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha began some nine years ago in 1995 when our founder and Guru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, affectionately known as Gurudeva, gave a speech to over 30,000 devotees gathered under a mammoth tent to celebrate the 75th Jayanthi of His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj in Mumbai. Also at that time he visited the temple complex and exhibition halls at Akshardam and spent a full day at your monastic training center in Sarangpur where he spoke to the young sadhus there on the importance of obeying the Guru.

In 1995 our magazine, Hinduism Today, chose His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj as the recipient of our Hindu Renaissance Award. This award honors one eminent Hindu each year who has most impacted the faith and spread its values, compassion and profundity across the globe.

In July 2004, we had the privilege of being present at the opening of the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Houston, Texas and I thought you would enjoy hearing the short talk I was honored to give on that occasion. The various points made in the talk, of course, are all equally applicable to your Mandir here in Neasden.

“We are very pleased to be participating in these historic inauguration ceremonies for the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir of Greater Houston. The outer architecture of this temple is exquisite and indeed a rare accomplishment worthy of wide recognition and praise and will certainly elevate the opinion of many about the greatness and sophistication of Hindu traditions. However, more important is the inner, spiritual significance of the temple to the devotees who will worship here for generations to come.

This inner significance is captured quite profoundly in the words of His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj when he says that a mandir:

is a center for realizing God
is where the mind becomes still
is a place of paramount peace
inspires a higher way of life
teaches us to respect one another
preserves our cultural values
and sustains our unique identity

In today’s troubled world, many thoughtful individuals are concerned about bringing greater peace into the world. A temple such as the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir helps individuals find more peace within themselves, which in turn brings greater harmony into their homes, which in turn creates greater tolerance and unity within the community.

Another important aspect of Shree Swaminarayan Mandir is how it will influence this and future generations of children. With most schools focusing solely on secular studies, there is a need for children to learn traditional values in a religious setting such as this. In other words, it is not enough to simply learn to read and write, children also need to learn what to read and write. And the concept of what it means to be a successful adult needs to include not only wealth and family but also the principles of a pious life of virtuous conduct, fulfillment of duty to family, community and country and regular worship of God and Guru at the mandir and in the home shrine.”

In Houston we enjoined meeting a number of the devotees. One father had an interesting story. He described how his two sons were devoting their entire summer to helping in the construction of the Houston Mandir. They would rise early every morning and leave for the Mandir and only return home about midnight to sleep for a few hours. Then the next morning they would leave early to go back to the Mandir to continue with the construction efforts. The father was rightfully proud of the strong religious spirit of service in his sons, and we were quite impressed as well at the extent of their dedication.

Though our Order of sadhus is less than sixty years old, small and of course worshippers of Lord Siva, still we feel there are number of strong similarities between our sangam of devotees and yours. Let me mention a few of them.

The first similarity is that both sangams have a living satguru and a tradition for perpetuating the guru lineage for future generations. Truly the divine blessings of a living satguru help us to make much greater spiritual progress in our lifetime than is otherwise possible. Of course this acceleration of spiritual progress is not automatic–rather it happens because we are obedient. That is we follow the general principles taught by the Guru as well as–if we are fortunate enough–any personal advise the Guru has given to us. Obedience is indeed the key.

Our founder and Guru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, affectionately known as Gurudeva, attained Mahasamadhi in November, 2001. On that occasion, His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj sent us a message we would like to share which contains insights into the continuity of the spiritual power of a guru lineage. Swamishri said:

“The first duty of all the disciples and monks of Gurudeva would be to follow every command of Gurudeva and keep on doing the great work he has been doing in letter and spirit. In Hinduism’s tradition the body dies but the spirit and consciousness of the person who has left the body will continue to guide. I will do special prayers personally for Gurudeva who has done great work. Gurudeva’s spirit will continue to guide his successor. Gurudeva’s saintliness and spiritual values will continue to guide the whole lineage. This has been the tradition of Hinduism.”

A second similarity between our sangams is that in your and our mandirs the ceremonies are conducted by the sadhus themselves and not by a married priest or priests. Therefore, in the mandir you are joining the sadhus in their worship. This provides a distinct kind of experience. Your sadhus are wonderful examples of purity and devotion and you are quite fortunate to be able to worship with them. Be ever grateful and appreciate for their holy presence.

A third similarity is that your and our mandir have active teaching programs in which the sadhus systematically present the teachings of the lineage. There is no lack of teachings or confusion as to what teachings the organization believes. It is all crystal clear thanks again to the presence of the sadhus.

Let me take a minute to express a few thoughts from our guru on the stability provided by communities of sadhus. “Families are blessed who share in and support the renunciation of their sons born through them to perform a greater dharma than the grihastha life could ever offer. It is the monastic communities worldwide, of all religions, that sustain sanity on this planet. It is the monks living up to their vows who sustain the vibration of law and order in the communities and nations of the world. This is how the inner worlds see each monastic community worldwide. This is how it is and should always be. This is how humanity balances out its experiential karmas and avoids destroying itself as it passes through the darkness of the Kali Yuga. The monastic communities that surround the planet, fulfilling their dharma, compensate for the adharma that is so prevalent, thus ensuring that humanity does not self-destruct in these trying times.”

The forth and last similarity between our sangams that I would
like to point out is a respect and tolerance for each other’s traditions. Unfortunately such respect and tolerance does not always exist between Vaishnatives and Saivites, between worshippers of Vishnu and worshippers of Siva.

In the Shikshapatri, Bhagwan Swaminarayan states: “The Vedas proclaim Narayan and Shiv as one and as Brahmaswarup, God’s true nature, and, therefore, they should be known accordingly. Bhagwan Swaminarayan also enjoins his devotees: “In the month of Shravan, they shall worship or engage the services of pious Brahmin devotees to worship Shiv with Bilva-patras and the like.” And finally he indicates his devotees shall fast on Shivratri and celebrate this festival with great reverence.” And of course, on the physical and visible side there is also a side shrine to Shiv in your Mandir.

Our Gurudeva’s statement on religious tolerance is “Saivites profoundly know that God Siva is the same Supreme Being in whom peoples of all faiths find solace, peace and liberation.” He also says, “Siva’s devotees, with hearts as big as the sky, love and accept Smarta, Sakta and Vaishnava Hindus as brothers and sisters, even if not accepted by them, and keep harmony by not discussing differences.” In our mandir we have a side shrine with the image of Shankaranarayana, half Shiva, half Vishnu, which of course symbolizes the unity of Siva and Vishnu.

As a result of our July 2004 attendance at the opening of your mandir in Houston, Texas we were able to produce a major article on BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha and your Houston Mandir in the January 2005 issue of our magazine Hinduism Today. An important part of our mission is promoting all the major Hindu denominations and organizations and we utilize our magazine Hinduism Today for that purpose.

His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj after being shown the article and hearing it translated into Gujarati, asked one of his sadhus to convey a special word of appreciation and prayers for the encouraging and inspiring works Hinduism Today is doing in promoting Sanatan Dharma. The message from Swamishree states: “The various articles, tidbits of relevant information and news are inspiring and gladdening. It infuses and strengthens pride in all Hindus. The glory of Hindu Dharma and its universal appeal is elegantly displayed through Hinduism Today.”

Many Hindus around the world feel there is a need to stand together as a united group to advance the image of Hinduism and protect the rights of Hindus in their country. However, often times those involved feel this can only be achieved if Hindus adopt a unified set of beliefs and practices. Our approach as formulated by Gurudeva is that Hindus can be unified and achieve the benefits of standing strong together for Hinduism while maintaining our multiplicity of great traditions. We express this in our magazines first purpose: “To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages.”

We are pleased to be able to be here today and have this opportunity to speak to you all, and look forward to our relationship with the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha continuing to be a close one over the years to come. Thank you. Om Shanti.

On last Thursday evening Bodhinatha meets with Sivayogam family.

Mrs. Sivayogam has coordinated all the arrangements for the next several days.

Today was Chitra Nakshatra day for this month.

A blissful, profound pada puja was performed instead of the regular Sun One homa.

Gurudeva was powerfully present, filling the room with the fragrance of his perfected being…

We have several sevaks on the island from the mainland. Dasan Mahadevan from Southern California here pictured with Tandu Sivanathan…

Aditya Vinadhara from Utah also here with us but not in today’s photos. We’ll capture him tomorrow, Linda.

This morning, following the puja, Tandu Sivanathan and his wife Uma completed the gold leaf work on the ninth of 108 Tandavas. They look so golden when standing beside the more bronze ones. It’s a special gift from Tandu and family to Kadavul temple, one that every visitor appreciates!

It was an exciting morning at the temple with a crane lift underway.

The two remaining lion pillars for the west Chinna Gopuram were picked up and placed in position.

After that our team huddles to discuss moving the giant scaffolding that the Siddhidata Kulam built so strong.

They designed to to be “modular” so that it could be detached and moved to the next area and re-used without having to be rebuilt.

It’s not a big problem for Larry’s giant crane.

The scaffold was placed on the North Gopuram by day’s end.

Larry will need to set the scaffold down and relocate his crane.

“down… easy!”

With all the scaffolding removed the temple stand free and looks glorious…

One can hardly believe one’s eyes that such a thing could have manifested in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Gurudeva’s vision manifested…

Small glitch! A hydraulic hose in one of the four stabilizers seems to have sprung a leak… we will have to prop up the scaffolding until Larry fixes it.

Our team has ropes on the scaffolding to keep it in position…

And our tractor is commandeered to serve as a temporary support until they repaired the hose and continued the crane work into the afternoon.

Someone has thrown out some old rice… our doves are very happy…

Mimi, our giant Holstein Amma, finally gave birth, and it was another little heifer… (on the left) Anuradha who is a few months older is happy to have a friend…

She has been named “Nandini…” Just three days old, but she is BIG

Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami, after a one night rest in San Franscisco, took off for London and are probably landing soon… see the schedule on Bodhinatha’s Travel page.

Yesterday morning we observed the Maha Samadhi day of our beloved Satguru Sivayogaswami…

We have some very beautiful paintings of the Paramapara from S. Rajam in Chennai that will be used in the forthcoming book on our lineage.

Back in time… leaving for London

Bodhinatha and Arumugaswami

It was tour day today, very busy at the Aadheenam. We are still working through some technical challenges here and will let these photos all speak for themselves and give you more details next phase… This happens to be a very powerful, astrologically auspicious time for meditation, so enjoy a “deep full moon.”

Nearly 80 visitors today!

Shanmuganathaswami hosts this couple from the Bank of Hawaii who came to perform the annual audio of Hindu Heritage Endowment

Anticipation builds as Bodhinatha is about to go off to London. Lots of preparations underway. Fortunately he and Arumugaswami will have an over night stop in California. Previously journeys direct from Hawaii to Europe were rated very high on the “exhaustion” index.

Today was the Ekadanta Kulam report day at lunch… Sadhaka Dandapani who has been handling the remote communications and preparations for the journey, says that there is a lot of enthusiasm in England. Devotees have been calling saying they are seeing posters up in various places announcing our Satguru’s visit.

It’s kulam meeting at the Ekadanta Kulam and while the duo team of Talaivar Sannyasin Saravananathaswami and Sadhaka Dandapani discus their Sivathondu, they are also keeping their hands busy filling bags of vibhuti from the Maha Sivaratri Abhishekam… to send out as prasadam…

At lunch Swami talked about his work this phase. Recently he’s been communicating with a number of young men interested in monastic life, getting to know them better and setting up a program of study and sadhana for them to move along on the path.

Paramacharya Palaniswami holds up a cover of the Island Temple which is going to press in a few days. The new edition has updates on the building progress, fund raising and of course, the fabulous shots of the temple with the scaffolding and quick tents removed, with the Golden Vimanam shining in the sun.

We are also pleased to announce the great work of Shankar Nathan of Koloa has finally manifested and is now available at our web store. Don’t miss this fabulous DVD. Bring the tale of Iraivan to life on your TV or computer screen. You can show this to all your family and friends to give them a dramatic overview of the Iraivan Temple project.

To order your copies today go to this link where, if you wait a few minutes you can also view the trailer

Shankar Nathan, after living many years and making quite a success of his life in the US is now moving on and has gone back to India to go into business there. It was Lord Ganesha’s grace to be sure that brought him and his family to Kauai and to do this DVD. To Shankar and his wife Vidya, if you are looking in from Chennai, we send you all our love and the blessings of Lord Siva of Kadavul temple from Kauai. Don’t stay away too long! And Shankar, thank you for the DVD!

We had a very actinic homa this morning, though no photos were taken… Over the retreat the monks did “Iraivan day” and got a lot of work done on the fund raising for the temple. Ardra Puja was also performed and the atmosphere here is very high, post Sivaratri…

In our monastic Saivite Shastras… it says the monks worked to maintain a vibration of “nothing is happening here…” and while we are all as busy as bees, today it is peace, perfect peace….

Another shipment of containers has left India on it’s way to Kauai, and visitors are now awestruck to see the temple…

A joyful Bodhinatha meeting with guests…

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 Dvadasi Tithi, Sun One, Saturday, March 19th.

Shirish and Daksha Parekh are pilgrimaging from New Jersey. Both are very active with the Sri Venkateswara temple in Bridgewater. They enjoyed very much seeing Iraivan Temple especially with the vimanam now standing without any scaffolding around it. They also had a good meeting with Bodhinatha.

Final phase day tour….

Pete, Jean and their daughter Lisa were among our guests today.

The ever popular stone carving…

The silpi shows them how…”See, it’s easy”

These two ladies send their warmest alohas to their loved ones who will be tuning into TAKA to see them online.

Yogi Japendranatha’s mother came for lunch today…

She is an experienced potter and works nearly seven days a week a pottery studio in Seattle, Washington. She shares this strong commitment to her craft by telling us the intricacies of clay, and how her work week goes. She also teaches at the studio. Needless to say, she is an expert and her work is world class. She also does not have a TV at home “I don’t have time for that…I read a lot and have my work and friends…who needs the TV?”

Paramacharya Palaniswami gives her a gift of the newly released Iraivan DVD by Shankar Nathan. She and her husband do watch selected movies and DVD’s on his PC…

We asked her for a promotion shot… stay tuned… next phase we will have details on where you can get your copy of this outstanding documentary of Iraivan on our web site….

Meanwhile… the quest for the most perfect photo never ends. This morning’s goal: to get just the right shot for the latest edition of Island Temple, which will go to press in the weeks ahead…. we will let the photos do the talking…

A small series… from early this morning, Sadhaka Jivananandanatha drives out to check on one of our giant Holstein’s who is about to give birth, that’s “Hana”

The sun breaks over the eastern tree line… it’s cool this morning, at a low of 54 degrees fahrenheit, which was a new record for Kauai on this date…

We are checking daily and our prediction experts are hard at work “any day now… no, not until next week…” as to when Hana will drop her new calf.

This is the other Holstein, “Mimi”, the daughter of Hana.

Hana is breathing heavily… “How are you Hana? Feeling OK? You look like you are about to burst!”

Our photographer at the Rudraksha forest, where a little Ganesha greets visitors at the entrance.

This rudraksha grove has a special vibration and people come here often to enjoy a peaceful moment.

On the open field just outside the grove.. this is where visitors will park and come to the future Information Center, before walking up San Marga path to Iraivan Temple….

see you all next phase…

Om Namasivaya!

It was a quiet but beautiful Sun Five today at the Aadheenam. Bodhinatha has been working with his editing team on Book Four of the Saiva Hindu Religion course for youth… every afternoon. And today Bodhinatha went through a giant pile of correspondence with his Ekadanta Kulam helper, Sadhaka Dandapani.

It was the Ganapati Kulam’s turn to share their Sivathondu report for the phase. Work is progressing on the artwork for Lemurian Scrolls which looks like it will be another incredibly beautiful volume. Living with Siva pocket book is moving forward, with a few karma yogis working on the assembly of the glossary under charya Kumarswami’s oversight. It is so wonderful that dozens and dozens of good souls around the world have found little ways to manifest Gurudeva’s many visions inhelping the mathavasis. Together, it is a true force.

A view that a visitor has from the publications building…

Todays visitors, of which you will hear more tomorrow, saw the magic of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery and said, “It is clear that one day this monastery and temple will be an Earth heritage center, like other great monuments and properties.”

This phase the whole team worked a full day on archiving and organizing the vast heritage of Gurudeva’s audio files. The transcription sevaks who are here and there transcribing Gurudeva’s talks are doing a great job and new recruits are starting to send in their first transcriptions. They really love listening to Gurudeva’s voice every day and are performing a great service.

Looking through the binoculars .. they will spy a remarkable sight in the distance…something wondrous to behold…

Vicki Hamilton, our monastic mother from Seattle, spent another day with her son, Yogi Japendranatha. They took long walks in the gardens, spent time sharing news of home, and had a special lunch together. Vicki is a talented ceramic sculptor, and we are encouraging her to add gold leaf to some of her works of art when she returns home. In fact, the monks gave her some 23-karat gold leaf to begin the new era of her creativity. All inspired by the radiant and rare golden towers of Iraivan, shown here in today’s photo.

Today the long awaited complete revelation of the golden vimanam arrived…

Meanwhile Yogi Japendranatha’s mother has come for a visit for a week. Each morning she comes to spend some time with her son….

The top piece of a Tara pillar…

This part will sit down on top of the main column… and the square piece will fit into a hole carved at the top of the pillar.

Our hard working team, the Siddhidata Kulam, shared the report of their work on Iraivan at lunch today.

And we have photos of the progress this morning as the last pieces of the scaffolding coming down.

The reflection from the capstone in the bright sun is mesmerizing… like something come down from the inner worlds from another planet.

This is very difficult and tedious work. One wrong move and a beam could be dropped and break some stone work.

The silpis continue on the Chinna Gopuram capstone adjustments.

Placing the decorative pieces on top…

Back at the Aadheenam, Terry Parish… who comes periodically to work on the grounds…

CC Patel and wife, Tarangini, are visiting from Kona on the Big Island. They brought their relative, Shakuntala, who is visiting from Winnipeg in Canada.

We will let the following series speak from the space of golden silence….