Aum Sivaya! You might want to reconsider reading today's post as it might be too powerful for mere mortals' minds. You have been warned! Today a fierce new fence and accompanying gate have been installed near the start of San Marga. With the new Iraivan Temple parking lot area now open to the public, this enchanted swamp green gate will keep the uninvited from gazing upon Iraivan's celestial glory. It took less than a day to construct this fence but its sturdy frame will allow it to resist our weather's potent power of dissolution. Hopefully soon these gates will open for you so that you might deliquesce in Iraivan's glory. Aum Aum Aum

Bonjour all,

Today we will be visiting a thing that did not technically occur today, but in a way, you reading this right now is creating it today. Anyways!.. Work has begun on the Pillaiyar Kulam office expansion. The Pillayar Kulam is the group of monks who oversee the Mini Mela, magazine subscription, and much much more. The space has been quite tight for a long time so its great to see the building getting a much needed confidence boost. This building will accommodate current and future monks for many years to come. Aum

Recently, the small Caterpillar excavator we own went to the shop in Puhi industrial park for maintenance and replacement parts. Because the process is taking a lot longer than anticipated, the CAT headquarters in Honolulu agreed to loan us a slightly larger excavator for free because our projects need to continue moving forward, especially on drier days.

Here are a few photos of the larger machine (with our part time employee Dennis Wong and long-time friend of the monastery) which is a boon since it can make quicker work of some types of projects.

Aloha all! Today the first 28 of some 50 pallets of floor stones from China arrived today at Iraivan Temple. These are one-inch thick, red granite slabs up to two feet by two feet square. They will go on the second prakaram, the floor area between the temple building and the outer perimeter wall. They're first being set on the ground in front and beside the temple, where they will wait patiently to be raised up to the floor near the Nandi mandapam. We'll soon be meeting with the tile setter, Brian Oliver, to figure out how best to organize the 1800 individual tiles which are in about 70 different sizes. A real-life, very expansive puzzle! Precutting all the pieces allows for more uniformity in the final floor, and also makes the tile setters' job easier—if they can keep track of which tiles go where! Aum Namah Sivaya

Hope you are all having a pleasant hot-plasma-sphere day. Sunday, that is! Today the craftsmen from the Big Island of Hawaii came back to install the art on the southern wall of Sivoham, the monastery guest house. They truly saved the best for last. Hopefully you will be able to see it in person someday. Aum!

(If you haven't yet, check out the April 3rd post for the story)

Shivoham, the residence where taskforcers and potential monks live during their stay, has for a long time been jealous of the incredible art lining the walls of various monastery buildings. To cheer her up we commissioned craftsmen from the Big Island to help print and install new wallpaper which designed with the works of S. Rajam, as assembled by Sadasivanathaswami. The new designs have increased the vibration and general pleasentness of the main dining, kitchen and gathering room.

Today is the final day of the phase and after a three moon circumgyration shortage of sky-water, it has begun to spill again. Luckily the rain stopped for a few hours during the day and we were able to finish our gold leafing protection project. The Kodimarams at Kadavul and Iraivan Temple are covered in a gold leafing and therefore very susceptible to Kauai's climate. Thus, to prevent having to re-gild them again, they are sprayed with a special solution that prevents the growth of mold and other microorganisms. Also there is a new photographer today so if you have any tips on how to take better pictures please comment below. Have a great week! Om Sivaya Om Sivaya Om Sivaya.

The team in Bengaluru has been working hard to bring all the pieces together for the last shipment to Kauai. A few days back you saw them making the solid crates that will protect the sculptured stones during their 8,000-mile voyage. This slideshow is historic, since there will be no further containers coming from India for Iraivan. We thank the Rajasankara family for documenting this, not easy when you are in the middle of complex packing and moving. Enjoy the slideshow, and this short movie.

Our new concrete road down to Iraivan Temple is called Siva Saalai, “Siva’s Road” in Tamil. It is a 650-foot-long, 10-foot-wide entry, taking visitors through two rows of giant talipot palms, seven trees on each side. It is an awesome entryway.

After waiting a month for it to cure, heavy equipment can now use it. Today we are widening it with a skirt of dirt and gravel to vehicles can pass each other coming from opposite directions and so large delivery trucks can make the turns. Our employee Doug Noogle is bringing in loads and smoothing it out. This was once the most pot-holed road on the property. Today it is the Royal Road to Siva.

Lots of lumber and labor go into preparing Iraivan Temple's completed stones for their journey to Kauai. In the past few days two more containers are being readied in Bengaluru (we think they are the last). Teams of carpenters and silpis are joining in the effort to be sure the precious cargo arrived unscathed after its 8,000-mile voyage. In this slideshow we get a glimpse of what it takes, even after years of carving complete, to safely crate the stones. They know what they are doing, having sent almost 100 containers to Hawaii in the last 23 years. Good job, everyone!