It is monthly "ashram sadhana" day at the Aadheenam. All morning the monks were cleaning and dealing with the physical world - make it better! First we cleaned in Kadavul temple and then everyone had their projects. We took Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami table out of the Media Studio, over the shop to be re-finished.

These photos recently came in from Bengaluru. As you can see the new Nandi for Iriavan Temple is progressing well.

This short and sweet Nandi will spend the next 1000 year staring worshipfully at Iraivan Temple's Spatika Lingam.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Aum Namah Sivaya
Here's a preview of what Iraivan Temple's perimeter wall will look like once complete. For now only this northeast corner is nearly finished, but the rest of the wall is moving along quickly. These red granite pots will sit atop each of these tower sections and below the wall will be a border of cascading lava rock.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Today the siplis are focusing on two main areas: some finishing work in the Nandi Mandapam and the details on the two large yalli handrails. In the Nandi Mandapam, the base stones for the Kodimaram have also been placed. As another notable point the drain for the Mandapam's gomukai has been successfully installed in the foundation. Aum

Jai Ganesha!

We've just received these photo-updates from the team in Bangaluru. Here you can see the stone cladding that is being carved for Kadavul Temple's Nandi Mandapam, Bali Pitam, and Kodimaram (not pictured). When complete and installed, these will totally transform the entrance to our beloved Kadavul Temple. Aum Namah Sivaya.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Today marks the fifth day of our lunar week, which means tomorrow and the next day the monks take time off from their normal duties and attend to other projects. So today we wrap up the week with a look at some of the progress made this week on Iraivan Temple, the Greenhouse and the Pillayar Kulam Office

Today we received several photos from across the world that all related to Nandi, Siva's most ideal bhaktar. First, a photo from the carving site in Bengaluru, which shows the new Nandi being carved for Iraivan Temple. For those unaware, the current Nandi which had been carved, turned out to be 8 inches too long to fit inside Iraivan's Nandi Mandapam. But don't fret, he may have a bright future nonetheless. This new Nandi is quickly progressing. Here at the Aadheenam the Siplis continue to make progress in the Nandi Mandapam as they work on the foundational stones for the Kodimaram. Also in Bengaluru, the stone cladding for Kadavul Temple's Nandi Peedam and the base of Kadavul's Kodimaram are nearing completion. This somewhat unknown project has been progressing for some time, and soon Kadavul Temple will have some of its own beautiful stone work. On another note, in Mysore, India, several giant 16th century Nandi's, dating back to the post-Vijayanagar period, have just been unearthed. Must be a day for Nandi!

The new Restrooms for guests, at the Pillaiyar Kulam office, is quickly progressing. With the walls going up the the roofing added. Aum.

Today the silpis and the monks of the Siddhidatta kulam placed the Kavacham pieces over the kodimaram, the temple flagpole. This is a test fitting, which will finalize the height at which stones around the base of the kodimaram must be carved too. After this the pieces will be taken off and the final steps towards completing the kodimaram will commence before they are placed a final time.

The first layer of Iriavan Temple's perimeter wall is now well on the way to completion. Most of the stones on the north, east and west sides have been set in place, while at the same time the two large yallis for the entrance steps are receiving some finishing touches.