Here is the other half of miscellanous scenes that SSC sishya Rajen Manick captured during his taskforce period before returning home to Mauritius. He had a darshan meeting with Satguru just before departing to discuss personal life and mission matters in Mauritius. The rest of the photos are mostly from Iraivan Temple's first yearly anniversary pujas.

Join us at 3:00pm today, Kauai time, for Kauai Aadheenam’s 2024 observance of Vaikasi Visakam, honoring Lord Murugan, God of Kundalini Yoga. This year's puja is conducted by Sri Arul Nandi Sivam, Chief Priest of Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple at Kailas Ashram. Sri Arul Nandi Sivam is visiting the Aadheenam with Sri La Sri Jayendrapuri Mahaswamiji. Aum.

SSC sishya Rajen Manick recently completed his taskforce period and returned home to Mauritius. Upon arriving, he sorted through the many photos he had taken of the grounds and events, and shared the cream of the crop with us. Below is the first half of his collection.

While here, Rajen participated in many pujas, classes and darshan meetings, and served in multiple seva projects including book translation into French, brainstorming large information posters for the Spiritual Park of Mauritius, helping with the monthly Kauai's Hindu Monastery Newsletter mailing, preparations for Ardra Abhishekam, painting new structures and more. He warmly encourages more sishyas to make the pilgrimage to Kauai and participate in the taskforce program.

A devotee took a number of portrait-mode clips during the two days of first anniversary festival events, and we have compiled them here. The monthly morning Krittika Homa happened to fall on the first day of the anniversary pujas, so clips of that are shown first. The first evening of the Samvatsara Puja is when Kauai faced torrential rains and floods, so that is captured in some of the clips.

The first annual anniversary of Iraivan Temple's consecration has arrived. Events take place on April 11th afternoon and April 12th morning. Besides footage that will be posted after the fact, we've set up a temporary album where footage will be posted live, as it happens. Feel free to regularly check the link below over these two days if you'd like a semi-live experience. (Footage from this month's Krittika Homa on April 11th morning is also posted in this album.) Iraivan Temple Samvatsara Puja 2024

Preparations have been in full swing for Iraivan Temple's first anniversary pujas on April 11-12. From husking coconuts for kumbhas, to securing tents, to installing sitting platforms, a temporary homa kunda and hanging tombai decorations, these photos show a small portion of the details involved to get ready.

Yesterday marked the 60th year since Yogaswami's grand departure. Here at the Aadheenam, the Satguru and the monks observed a small private arati at Yogaswami's shrine before beginning their morning meditation. In Sri Lanka, events were held at Columbuthurai, the Sivathondan Society and Alaveddy.

"Live a disciplined life. Everything else will take care of itself." - Yogaswami

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives an Upadesha in Iraivan Temple on the evening of Mahasivaratri, 2024.

Iraivan Temple celebrated Mahasivaratri for the very first time on March 7th evening into the next morning.

From Dancing with Siva--
"Mahivartri is the night before the new-moon day in February-March. We observe it both as a discipline and a festivity, keeping a strict fast and all-night vigil, meditating, intoning iva's 1,008 names, singing His praise, chanting r Rudram, bathing the ivaliga and being near thevairgsas they strive to realize Paraiva."

We began with singing by devotees, then chanting Sri Rudram, followed by Satguru's upadesha on spiritual unfoldment through the four purusharthas, goals of life. The Pravin Kumar Gurukal performed homa, followed by the first kala abhishekam which ended about midnight.

After midnight, Gurukal continued with three more kala abhishekams, decorating Mahalingesvara sphatikalinga in a different manner each time, ending around 5am.

Tonight is Siva's Great Night. While our observance of Ardra Darshanam is a celebration of Siva as infinite creation, Mahasivaratri is much the opposite—an introspective dive into the perfectly still source of all that is.

Gurudeva describes Nirvikalapa Samadhi thus: “The inmost center of consciousness–located only after the actinic forces dissolve concepts of form and even consciousness being conscious of itself–is found to be within the center of an energy-spinning force field. This center–intense in its existence, consciousness only on the perimeter of the inside hub of this energy field–vitalizes all externalized form.” “Losing consciousness into the center of this energy field catalyzes one beyond form, time, space. The spinning hub of actinic energy recreating, preserving and dissipating form quickly establishes consciousness again. However, this is then a new consciousness, the continuity of consciousness having been broken in the nirvikalpa samadhi experience. Essentially, the first total conscious break in the evolution of man is the first nirvikalpa samadhi experience. Hence, a new evolution begins anew after each such experience. The evolutional patterns overlap and settle down like rings of light, one layer upon another, causing intrinsic changes in the entire nature and experiential pattern of the experiencer.”