Recently, our traveling Swami's who are currently in Malaysia, woke up early and made their way to Batu Caves before sunrise. This famed pilgrimage site for Lord Murugan is a large natural cave structure in a small mountain, the entrance of which was thought to look like Muruga's Vel.

Our Swami's first stopped at the small Ganesha temple down below. It was still dark when they began their climb up the stairs. Tillainathaswami noted, "I headed up the stairs a few minutes early from the group. It's a good exercise to scale those tall steps and was very much worth the huffing and puffing. Arriving at the top before even the priest, I was able to spend a few serene minutes completely alone in the whole of Batu Caves. Just the cool water dripping off the cave walls and the bat-like chirps of the cave swallows. The monkeys were still asleep. No mumble of people, no music. A very, very special experience. I went up the high steps in the back of the cave and found an overlooking spot at one end of the top step, nestled in a vertical cone-like formation that exaggerated the subtle sounds of the wind as it blew through the heights of the cave. As you may know there is one small opening hundreds of feet up in the main chamber, and a huge opening to the mountain top in the upper chamber, replete with green jungle plants. Sitting in this unique little spot allowed me to hear the softest wind coming through the cave which, in the morning, comes in quiet pulses like a breath or heartbeat. It felt like all the temple-structures and shrines were simply decorations, and that it was actually the cave itself that was Muruga. I meditated there for a long while Paramacharya enjoyed some special meditation time in front of the main shrine—a Vel in the side of the cave. It's an area where the cave walls have been gilded in gold, and a temple built around it. After a long mediation I made my way down to sit there as well. Other Malaysia shishya had arrived, and a beautiful crystal-light-filled alankaram was revealed."

The Muruga that is placed there for the puja was holding two Vels. A silver one and a bronze one. At the end of the puja, the priest took the bronze one from the shrine and gave it to our monks to take back to Kauai. Before leaving, below at a Palani shrine, another bronze Vel was gifted.

After heading down from the cave, talking to the monkeys along the way, our swami's also had a short sit-down with members and then the priest of the small Siva Temple that's there, brought our swamis over for a blessing from the Sivalinga.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Here are more photos from our monks' journey. Sadasivanathaswami and Tillainathaswami are currently traveling, visiting Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius. After a day of travel they arrived in Singapore where they were able to spend time with members, have Satsang, visit the Sri Sivan Temple, and enjoy some informal time at Singapore's largest bird sanctuary. Tomorrow they fly to Malaysia. More to come!

Our two traveling Swamis had a delightful evening at the Sri Sivan Temple in Singapore, of which more details are coming. Meantime, a poem that summarizes the satsang part of the event. Sadasivanaathaswami was sharing with the members how ChatGPT4 is helping the publishing team to proofread and organize/summarize long articles. He asked Chat to write a poem about the swamis meeting the members in the temple, as an example of the AI's amazing talents. In less than one second, this unedited poem was composed based on a simple prompt of three sentences. It describes some of the traits for which the nation/state is known, multiculturalism, promptness, cleanliness, innovation and fines for everything. To manage public cleanliness, Singapore has banned gum and even on the plane it was announced it is illegal to bring gum into the country! Enjoy the poem.

In Singapore where punctuality's "key,"
A group meets Tonight with joy and esprit.
With swamis from far isles,
And Sivaya Subramuniya's styles,
They find "Light and Love," blissfully free!

In temples where "Cleanliness" reigns,
They cast off their worldly chains.
With moksha in sight,
On Siva's San Marga Path of Light,"
They transcend their earthly pains.

A "Multicultural" crew,
From backgrounds not just a few.
Chinese, Malay, and more,
All come through the door,
In search of a spiritual view.

In the land where "Innovation" survives,
They seek out enlightened lives.
From the MRT's speed,
To spiritual need,
Each soul like a lotus thrives.

So here in this small city-state,
Where everything's efficient and "great,"
They've found what they seek,
With spirits unique,
And joy that's first-rate!

In Singapore, a "fine" city, indeed,
Where laws are observed to a "T."
For litter or speed,
Or jaywalking, take heed!
You'll get fined so fast, you won't even see!

"Adaptability's" their forte,
Learning from Gurudeva each day.
Two Hawaiian swamis, too,
Bring a wisdom to the brew,
On their quest to find the right way.

After finishing in India, our team visited Malaysia for a couple days to have satsang with Saiva Siddhanta Church sishyas and informal Kauai Aadheenam devotees, and visit a few temples including the famous Batu Caves. Yogi Dayanatha mentioned that a lot of tourists come to Batu Caves after 9am, so they were glad to have visited earlier in the morning. Then, on the way home to Kauai, they made another short stop in Singapore to meet a few families and visit a huge indoor tropical garden.

The next stop in Bengaluru was Kailash Ashram, home of the late Sivaratnapuriswami (Trichyswamigal) and now headed by his successor, Sri la Sri Jayendrapuriswamigal. This ashram was largely responsible for clearing the path to set up the Iraivan Temple carving site in Bengaluru. Our late Gurudeva and architect Ganapati Sthapati ceremoniously chipped the first Iraivan Temple stone there in 1990.
Yogi Dayanatha reports--
"Jayendrapuriswami brought us around the property. He brought us to the Pyramid of Health which will be fully functioning in two months. They have dental already going on. The free clinic is happening, yoga sessions and meditation sessions are already happening. Eye care and some Ayurvedic treatment is underway.

"Then he brought us to see another building housing a homeopathic clinic, with most facilities already running. Two to three hundred people are already going to this place. Then he brought us to the gardens which had big coconut tree groove, mango trees, curry leaves and Naga lingam poo trees. We had some fresh cut coconut to drink and we walked across the road to go to another piece of land that had tons of eggplant, okra, chili peppers, pumpkins and more. It was really beautiful to look at. After lunch he took us to the gaushala where he showed how they use the cow dung to make methane gas for cooking. It was very fascinating. Its doing so well they are actually selling it."

After a short stop at Master Course trilogy student Madan Ganesh's family home, the team visited a granite temple being carved and assembled by Senthil and Thurai Rajasankara's company for the Sri Adichunchanagiri Mutt branch in Bengaluru. The former head of the Mutt, the late Sri la Sri Balagangadharanathaswami, had temporarily donated land in the city for the Iraivan Temple carving worksite.

Afterwards, they visited the Rajasankara joint family home and company carving site.

Finally, they visited a company called Live Green which is developing plant-only additive products to replace all animal-derived additives used in various food products.

And so ends the India portion of their trip

One of the priests who performed the Iraivan Temple pranapratishtha in March is Vivek Sivam, who then stayed on to perform the 41 days of Mandala Pujas afterwards. Now our monks have visited him at his family temple in Coimbatore, called Kurunthamalai Kulandhai Velaayuthaswami. It's on top of a small hill. Yogi Dayanatha reported:

"It has a similar feeling to Iraivan Temple, green all around and very quiet (when there is no construction). Lots of monkeys running around that temple. They were very playful but didn't bother us much. Coimbatore was cooler than other areas and it was very windy. They just had their kumbhabhishekam and are doing their mandala puja. We sat for the puja and chanted Sri Rudram with Vivek. Muruga had a beautiful Alankaram. After the puja Vivek took us to his house. We met his parents and his wife. They fed us breakfast. First home cooked meal since we started our India trip. They were so happy that we came. They made lunch for us as well to take on the road."

Then, on the seven-hour ride to Bengaluru, our travelers passed through the very scenic region of Ooty including a tiger reserve. Yogi Dayanatha reported: "You can see wild elephants, deers, peacocks and other animals except for tigers, as they only come out during the night most of the time. It was quite a drive through the reserve and the forests. Tons of pines, teak, blue gum and other trees. Ooty was very cool. You open the window, its like someone forgot to turn the A/C off."

Arriving in Bengaluru, the first stop was to visit the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Art of Living Foundation) Veda-Agama Pathashala where Sundaramoorthy Sivacharya is the principal. He was one of the head priests at our Iraivan Temple pranapratishtha. Yogi Dayanatha reported:

"It was quite a welcoming party. We had small group of padashala boys chanting, short puja for Ganesha and then we entered the padashala. There, the boys were sitting chanting the "vyoma vyapine..." abhishekam mantra beautifully. We met Shanmuga Sivachariya's son. After that Sudaramoorthy Sivachariya give a short speech and honored Swami. Then different classes of boys were chanting different mantras. From the seniors to juniors.

"After that they took us on a tour around the property, their gaushala, research rooms, class rooms and farms—which had tons of okra and pumpkins. They have lots of people walking around, and many of seminars taking place."

On this India pilgrimage the monks are being guided through the locations by our sishyas Thuraisingam and his wife Swapna.
After Tiruvanaikovil Jambukeswarar, our monks visited the Uchi Pillaiyar temple, a great walk up steep stairs. Beforehand, at the base, they visited Thayumanavar Temple which has a massive Sivalingam. The bottom part of the Sivalingam is enclosed by four walls which you can walk around.

Afterwards they drove to Pillaiyarpatti Ganesha Temple which is also home to Pitchai Gurukkal and his priest training school. Our current Iraivan Temple priest, Pravin Kumar, was trained there. It was a happy meeting with Pitchai Gurukkal just before he was leaving for Chennai and then to Canada (he travels often to officiate at temple kumbhabhishekams). He gave them a room to rest and also see other visitors.

Later on the way to Madurai, they visited Thirumarainathar Temple which is in the birthplace town of Manickavasagar. It is a very quiet place.

At the Madurai Meenakshi/Sundareswara temple, no phones, electronics, smart watches etc were allowed inside the temple due to bomb threat. They were shown around by Chellappa Baktar who was one of the priests at our Iraivan Temple crystal Sivalinga installation. They visited his home and presented a certificate for having officiated at our Iraivan Temple ceremonies.

After Madurai they drove to Maruthamalai Murugan Temple on a hilltop. It was crowded and they could only see Murugan from a distance. Yogi Dayanatha said He was covered with vibhuti and looked like a king. Afterwards they visited the beautiful Perur Pateeswarar Temple.

Arriving in Kumbhakonam, they first visited Dharasuram Airavatesvara Temple, another ancient Chola Siva temple. It feels like a tourist attraction at the moment.

Next they met with Muruga Sthapati to plan for making a swarnabandanam, gold band, to be placed around the base of the Iraivan Temple Mahalingeswara crystal Sivalinga as the focal point of the public Kumbhabhishekam in several years.

After that meeting, they drove an hour to visit the Chola Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple, famous for the really tall vimanam/capstone and huge Sivalinga.

Next on the itinerary was to visit the water element Siva temple, Tiruvanaikovil Jambukeswarar temple in Trichy. It has amazing carvings, huge pillars and constant water flow in front of the Sivalinga that no one can explain.

After the first stop in Singapore, Yoginathaswami and Yogi Dayanatha flew to Chennai to have some meetings and visit the Kalikambal temple run by the sons of the late Sambamurthy Sivacharya, then started to make their way to Chidambaram

It's been two or three years since Saiva Siddhanta Church sishyas and well-wishers in Singapore and Malaysia could visit with Satguru, so that was nearly the sole focus of his recent week spent there, minus one day due to a flight cancellation from Honolulu.

Malaysia was the first stop, with multiple padapujas. Satguru met with many families individually, presided over some brahmacharya vratas, held a group satsang at the Iraivan Illam center, met with current leadership at the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, and stopped by longtime supporter Dr. Arjunan's home where he also touched base with the current Swami posted at the local Divine Life Society branch.

Singapore was the second stop, with padapuja satsang at Dohadeva and Nagavathy's home and another satsang at the hotel complete with a dance offering.