Stone bells are a rare artifact in Hindu temples. Such bells exist today in older temples like the Kailasanathar Temple in Kanchipuram, Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, and the famed Pashupatinatha Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. However, none are known in the Western world.

That changed yesterday when the monks formally installed a 510-pound granite bell. A small shrine was designed and built by the monks, with help from Taskforce. The structure was made of clear redwood donated by Thamby Kumaran and was felled years ago in the presence of the swamis at Thamby's home in California. A full puja was performed, as per the Agamas, to bless the felling of the two trees, complete with honey on the tree feller's chainsaw and prayers to the devas that the trees (removed due to their dangerous proximity to the home) would have a new destiny.

The Bell Tower is placed near the Silpi Bronze Pavilion to show pilgrims another remarkable creation of the silpi sculptors. The bell is rung with a hardwood mallet and produces a distinctly metallic sound. Keep in mind, this was sculpted from a 1,200-pound piece of granite which typically would not make any sound other than a muffled thud. Making the granite sing is making the impossible happen.

All present rang the bell, which is said to have several meaningful features, including invoking a divine presence (the devas are said to be pleased by the sound), warding off negative spirits, purifying the environment, helping to focus the mind and drive away distractions momentarily, and, of course, it serves as a call to worship. Some say it symbolizes the Pranava Om, the eternal and original sound, the primordial sound of cosmic creation that can be heard internally by the meditating yogi.

Jai to all who made this possible, including God Siva who created the granite mountains of India!

Click below to hear the bell ring.

We start with showing beautiful Iraivan Temple Nandi from yesterday afternoon's bi-weekly Pradosha Puja.

The subsequent photos illustrate framing of the new second-floor offices for the Siddhidata Kulam in the Hale Hana metal building. Local contractors are moving quickly and will soon attach plywood to the framing in preparation for the next stage of drywall.

Kanda Alahan has been here working on the installation of new cabinetry for Bodhinatha's quarters. Kanda crafted all of it back in his California workshop, shipped it disassembled to Kauai and worked under the supervision of Vishvanathaswami to assemble and install it. It was finished yesterday. Congratulations to the Siddhidatta Kulam team. Bodhinatha returned from his journey yesterday to find his life improved in a useful way. Mahalo nui loa, Kanda.

The piping to carry county water and fiber-optic cable out to rudraksha grove entrance and out to Iraivan Temple has been completed. The photos show Pradip, our contractor, trenching the final stretch. Yoginathaswami has been following with a GPS survey device to map exactly where the trenches are located.

The final photo shows the water being turned on near Iraivan Temple. Shortly, we'll dig another trench to bring the water next to the temple entrance steps for feet washing.

Several teams of workers are busy at the monastery, laying water lines, tiling the temple pool, trimming giant palm trees, tending the gardens, moving mountains of soil, and more. So today we offer a buffet of images to give you an idea of what's happening.

Trenching for water piping and optical fiber continued from the San Marga parking lot corner down the pasture slope and to the edge of our water ditch winding through our property and feeding the ponds. The second photo shows the ditch, and Pradip, our contractor, is going to dig a tunnel underneath the ditch to sending the piping through. Then he will continue trenching parallel to the San Marga Path.

The third photo shows a just-painted pyramid structure that will hold about 130 small kumbhas for the first annual Iraivan Temple anniversary pujas on April 11-12. More preparatory photos will come soon.

After over fifty years of being on this land, we are finally bringing a underground water line and fiber-optic cable out to the future site of Iraivan Temple's parking and reception center, then all the way down next to Iraivan Temple.

The photos show the first stage now complete, having reached the corner of the future parking lot.

Acharya Kumarnathaswami and Aditya Vinadhara have continued working nearly every day on the meticulous assembly. Today they expect to finish screwing in the wooden roof boards, having waited for more 6-inch stainless steel screws to arrive in the mail. If all goes according to plan, they will hoist the bell into position tomorrow.

For many moons we have wanted to upgrade the floor of the Banyan Mandapam, an important gathering place for visitors. But it was hard to find the hours to do it. Then Rajen Manick came, a senior member from Mauritius who brings with him considerable graphics and translation skills, and not a few practical abilities. Rajen just finished painting the floor of the 40 by 40 tent, and the 50 foot long walkway. It took about a week (not full time) to paint two coats of durable paint. He was helped a bit by Doug. A big upgrade to the entry of the monastery.

One of the great boons from the county project to widen Kuamoo Road beyond our rudraksha grove entrance, is a large amount of free earth. They are removing earth about two feet wide and two feet deep from the sides of the current road and replacing with gravel. All that earth is being delivered to us for free (otherwise they'd have to pay a lot to haul it much further away.

Most of the earth is being piled up to help level the area of our San Marga Iraivan Temple parking lot, but a lot is also being delivered near our new maintenance building, where our Siddhidata Kulam is using it mainly to raise the ground level where they use tents to store many items like gas tanks, metal resources, lawn mowers, etc. They are also using it to build new culverts in our back road to channel rain water, and another roadway.