For quite some time there's been a blank space on the four, flat, bottom faces of the wooden dhvajastambha ("flagpole") in the Nandi Mandapam at Iraivan Temple. Blank no more! The gold-plated copper plates arrived in the recent (and final) container shipment, along with the gold-plated Tiruvasi (brass arch) Which will rise behind the Sphatika Sivalinga.

All the items were installed just days ago and are exquisite, as you'll see in this photo collection. Beautiful miniature yallis (guardian figures) mount on the four corners of the dhvajastambha panels.

In the photos the tiruvasi is still wrapped in plastic, which will be removed a bit later.

Follow the camera lens of Arunesh as he takes us on an exploration around the Aadheenam and contemplate some words of wisdom along the way.

Brass is a beautiful thing, when you take the time to clean it. The tradition cleaning process of lime, tamarind, and vhibuti required quite a bit of effort so some of the many many murtis and other items around the monastery go a while without shinification. So this week we cleaned many of the murtis in display around the Ganapati Kulam as well as a few bells and pots from Bodhinatha's office scrubbing them so vigourously that they will be seen shining in the second world. It's amazing what you can do with a few natural ingredients and possibly the most important ingredient: the grease of the elbow. Aum

Aum Namah Sivaya

Recently the monastery had the pleasure of hosting Amma Anne for a week, who was visiting from the Seattle area. As an Amma of our monks, she arrived bearing gifts of cookies and chocolates for our monks to enjoy. While here she was hosted by Tillainathaswami, who took her around the grounds to see the many developments that had taken place since her last visit. Om.

Before the red granite tile setting begins soon around the outside of the mandapams, we need to install many water drain screens that connect to drain pipes embedded in the concrete foundation. Making that connection requires us to modify PVC piping somewhat. Today a plumber visited to get familiar with the job. He met with Arumuganathaswami and Yoginathaswami to discuss details.

For many years our local sishya Tandu Sivanathan has patiently, carefully nurtured various bonsai trees on the Aadheenam grounds. Here are closeup photos of some, revealing nuanced results of the art form. More photos to follow at a later time.

Here are some beautiful malas recently strung by local sishyas for selling in the Minimela giftshop. The malas move like hotcakes and we can barely keep up.

When he was young, Jonathan Anderson worked in the monastery grounds, building paths and more. He later became a Kauai policeman and had a family. His son, Tapa, is now graduating from high school and Jonathan asked if the monastery could give some flowers for the party. We, of course, said "Yes!

Father and son came and with Sadasivanathaswami's help picked a truck full of tropical beauty (Tapa is a master garland maker and hula dancer.)

They sent some photos of the party to say thanks, and we share those today.

Today was the long awaited arrival of the final shipment of stones and other items for Iraivan Temple. After a long journey from Bengaluru, these final containers landed on Kauai several weeks ago. They've been going through detailed import inspections and today, at long last, their contents have made it to the Aadheenam grounds. The delivery contained, among other things, the remaining rose granite flower pots which will grace the walls of Iraivan Temple's perimeter wall, the stone carved cladding for Kadavul Temple's Nandi Mandapam and Kodimaram, Iraivan Temple's new Nandi, and the golden Tiruvasi which will stand behind Iraivan Temple's Crystal Lingam once installed. Om Namah Sivaya!

We're just sitting there on a recent morning at our computers in the Media Studio, minding our own business, when suddenly a loud "Crack, Crack, Whoosh!" We all rushed outside to find a sizable branch or two had partially detached from the Shanmuga Banyan tree nearby. Fortunately it fell just short of the Kadavul Temple water tank and didn't damage anything. We hired JP's tree trimmers to complete the detachment. Check it out.