Today was a bit of history-making at the monastery. After more than seven years of sculpting and molding and casting and welding work by artists and artisans, and blessed by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's presence, we installed the life-size bronze statues of Gurudeva and V. Ganapati Sthapati in their final places just 150 feet north of Iraivan Temple.

At 12:38 the arati commenced and at 12:42 the stainless steel bolts were lowered into the granite stone, a time we are told when Jupiter was just rising on the Eastern horizon.

This is the fulfillment of one of Gurudeva's sweetest visions, to give pride of place to the creators of the temple, those who envisioned it, designed it and those who patiently chipped away at the hard rock for almost thirty years now. The main statues are now complete and in the days and weeks ahead will be added to the oval platform, with a goal to have them all positioned for another special ceremony to be held during this year's Mahasamadhi celebrations.

Standing on this center stone, Gurudeva is sharing his vision of Siva's Temple in Hawaii with his architect, India's finest. The architect is bowing before the satguru, his hands held in the traditional mudra of humility which South Indians assume before kings and holy gurus. Under his left arm, he holds the architectural plans for Iraivan.

With the monks and members present and Dennis Wong lifting with the back-hoe, these two took their positions for the next thousand years, so that future pilgrims might have a glimpse of how the temple was manifest on a tiny island in the far Pacific Ocean. AUM NAMA SIVAYA! SIVAYANAMA AUM!

From Tamilbrahmins.com: "Shastras compare a temple to the human body. Just as an individual soul is enveloped by five koshas or sheaths - (Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vynnamaya and nandamaya) - the Deity installed in the Temple (representing the Supreme Spirit) is also enveloped by five prakaras.

Just as our gross body has five sections - head, neck, chest, legs and feet - a Temple also has five corresponding sections. The Garbhagriham or sanctum Santorum represents the head; the Sanctum is the Soul or the Jiva of the body; the Vimana over the Sanctum represents the tip of the nose. Ardhamandap in front of the Sanctum represents the neck; Maha Mandapam, the chest; Prakaras around the Sanctum represents our five senses: the palibida where nivedana is offered to the deity represents the naval; the kodimaram represents the jeevadhara; (dwajasthambam) flag post of deity's endearing power, and the Gopura, the main gateway of the temple, represents the feet."

Way back in 2009 we received Iraivan's kodimaram, or flagpole, from India. Not only was getting it on the property difficult, but the ocean freight required months of back and forth communication to get container sizing right, wood shipping permits agreed upon and detailed inspections for foreign bugs. Ever since then the 45-foot kodimaram has been waiting patiently inside one of our storage buildings. The day has come where this majestic length of wood is unwrapped and prepped for copper clothes.

Pieter Weltevrede's newest painting of Kadavul's Lord Nataraja, enjoy.

Tomorrow evening Kauai Aadheenam will be celebrating Vaikasi Visakam with an elaborate puja and abhishekam to Lord Skanda in Kadavul Temple. The energy from this Lord of Kundalini has been steadily increasing as we come closer and closer to His festival time. Here are some photos of Lord Muruga from the last month, to help you along in connecting with His energy. Aum Saravanabhavaya Namah.

A lot of meditators to Hindu temples are not coming from traditional Hindu, or Eastern, backgrounds. Many practitioners today are coming from the yoga culture that has permeated the world. These wonderful souls seeking to find the depths of yoga practice, and its origins, make their way into the holy temples of the Hindu faith seeking to stretch their new flexible wings. With a few pointers, anyone can feel right at home at any mandir, temple, math, mut, ashram or monastery/temple complex!

It's done! The golden-hued platform that will be the stage for a thousand years for our silpi bronze master works is completed. The 35-foot oval is nestled amid mature palm trees about 200 feet North of Iraivan Temple. At its center is the massive, 9-foot-long raw stone, quarried from the same mountain as the temple itself, but not carved.

This Summer the bronzes will one by one take their place on the stage, creating an outdoor workshop that pilgrims can explore to see how the temple was constructed.

Lord Murugan, God of kundalini yoga, is bedecked in blue clothing today at Kadavul Temple. Fresh fragrant flowers adorn this powerful deity. From a talk Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gave in 2004: "Usually when someone teaches meditation they're talking just about sitting down and meditating. But Gurudeva says, no don't do that. First develop a relationship with Lord Muruga. There's no point trying to meditate in our particular tradition until you feel close to Lord Muruga. Then your meditations will be deep. Course that means for deep meditation doesn't mean just for simple meditation. Can't expect to have a profound meditation following Gurudeva's teachings unless you have a close relationship with Lord Muruga. So having said that of course. the next logical point is; how do you develop a close relationship with Lord Muruga? How do you develop a close relationship to the Deity? "Bring an offering. Ideally bring a flower for each shrine at which you are going to worship or if that is not possible at least a leaf. The act of giving opens you to the blessings of the Deity. Never visit the temple empty handed. So this is the teaching, such a simple teaching but we see it in the eyes. The room says: "Oh my I should be doing that. "That opens you up to them and therefore you're more receptive to what they give you. So the idea, give before you receive. Mystically it's part of temple worship. "Lord Murugan is traditionally worshipped to invoke the forces of divinity to overcome the forces of darkness. This process takes place both in the world and in the individual.That's the idea is that we can try and bring this into our lives, the worship of Lord Muruga; His ability to stimulate wisdom within us. This wisdom can be applied to our experiences, our pattern of experiences, help us improve our behavior and learn from our mistakes."

Each month the mathavasi of Kauai Aadheenam get together and perform a group outreach sadhana called Iraivan Day. The other 3 weekends of the month is Siddhidata day where we all work outside together. However on Iraivan day we work inside on everything Iraivan Temple related. Here is a quick look at what we have been doing for decades.

April news video reporting on events in May, 2017. A massive temple stone has been moved into the site of the Bronze Memorial; bronze sculptures continue to be crafted in Loveland, Colorado; Iraivan's silver naga was placed into the sanctum of the temple, the future site of the svayambhu Sivalingam; our newest John Deere tractor arrived and is ready to start hauling, cutting and pulling its own weight around here. Aloha and Namaste.

The life-size bronze of one of Iraivan's Tara pillars is nearing completion in Colorado. This photo was taken yesterday by Natalie Levin who is visiting Page Bronze for the first time, meeting Bobby and Kathy, who share her love of art and sculpture work.