Bodhinatha visits other temples in Canada
Going back in time, having finished the Kumbabhishekam activities in Edmonton, Bodhinatha visited the Shiv Shakti Mandir in Edmonton which was established largely by Hindus from Fiji who now live in the Edmonton area. They have a large hall with very beautiful and well maintained Dieties.
His next stop was at a cultural hall which is the temporary home for the Sri Murugan Society of Alberta in the city of Calgary. The group there hosts monthly satsang and is diligently working to find a permanent site for a temple.
Bodhinatha Arrives Back from Canada Mission
Bodhinatha is back. Here he is being greeted by the monks.
Sadhaka Adinatha traveled with him. Welcome back, Sadhaka!
Bodhinatha and Jeyendra Param
Edmonton Ganesha Temple — Blessing the Temple Sthupi
During a Mahakumbabhishekam, the power is transferred from the temple Diety to the brass kumbhas or pots, filled with water and special herbs. Worship to the Diety stops and the kumbas are worshipped instead. As many can attest, this often brings strong winds and rains, as it did in Edmonton. During this time repairs can be made to the shrines, additions, etc. Finally through intense chanting and ceremony the kumbhas are further energized, the water is poured, first over the temple spires (stupis or Kalasas), then over the Dieties. The power is returned to the temple and worship once again commences. Many thanks to the professional photography of temple trustee Sutha Suthaker, for these beautiful photos of the final day ceremonies.
Padapuja in Edmonton
On July 1, Bodhinatha left Kauai to participate in the Mahakumbhabhishekam of the Edmonton Maha Ganapathy Temple in Canada. However, upon arrival in Edmonton, the first event was his visit to the home of Kulapati Aran Veylan, a longtime sishya of Gurudeva and Bodhinatha. Aran and his son, Devasiva performed a beautiful pada puja, and afterwards, Bodhinatha showed several PowerPoint presentations.
Bodhinatha arrives at the Edmonton Temple
Mahakumbabhishekam is a magical and special time for a temple. With a special skill and power that only they know and understand, the priests remove the power from the Dieties of the temple and transfer it to special sanctified brass pots. What has been a vibrant and powerful, almost living, entity, now becomes an empty hall. This is the only time that all the devotees are allowed inside the sanctums to touch and oil the Dieties.
Soon after Bodhinatha arrived at the Maha Ganapathy Temple in Edmonton, he was escorted around the temple to oil each of the dieties. Thanks to Sutha Suthakar for these professional pictures of Bodhinatha's first day.
Bodhinatha at Ganesha Temple Maha Kumbhabhishekam
Bodhinatha and Sadhaka Adinatha are having a powerful time in Canada. Bodhinatha reports today:
"Om Sivaya, everyone,
Jai Ganapati.
This morning was the concluding ceremonies of the kumbhabhishekam. On arrival we were soon up in a genie boom 80-60 I believe pouring one kumbha over the tower above Ganesha along with three priests doing all the rest of the pouring and decorating. Then back inside for the frenzied pouring of kumbhas on the towers that were inside the temple and then finally on the murtis in the shrines, returning the shrines back to normal. Then a standard maha abhishekham was performed for all the murtis. Chanting was excellent transporting you into Ganesha's loka. In the midst of this I gave a short talk introducing The Guru Chronicles. I am not sure of the size of the group perhaps 400. The chief priest is from Colombo and in his daily prayers worships Yogaswami. So there was a special connection with him. He could see this temple as coming from Yogaswami through Gurudeva and therefore was particularly pleased to be the head priest for this ceremony.
Om
Bodhinatha
Satguru Darshan
Click on the above photo to download the high resolution version for your archives. Happy Satguru Purnima.
Guru Purnima – Pada Puja 2012
Devotees from four different countries came to witness and participate in this year's Guru Purnima festivities.
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
