March 22 was day nine of the 2019 Innersearch in Sri Lanka. Not far from the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple is where Yogaswami was born. As a young man, Yogaswami, known as Sadasivan, would frequent this temple, so our lineage has long held a deep connection here. Gurudeva was once invited into the inner sanctum by the head priest to do arati. This was unheard of at the time, and surprised many temple priests in the area. The head priest simply told them, "I saw Lord Muruga at the entrance, so I let Him in." This time around, to the surprise of many, after the homa Bodhinatha and the monks were also invited into the sanctum and Bodhinatha did the grand abhishekam himself. The energy of the invocation, puja, temple circumambulation, homa and abhishekam was tremendously electrifying. This continued when a second puja was conducted at an altar before the Mayil Vahana, where the Six-faced Shanmuga was the presiding deity. 1008 names were chanted by the revered chief priest of the Temple Maharajasri Ratnasabapathy Kurukkal. The event continued with a parade of Shanmuga around the first prakaram (the outer part of the inner sanctum) of the Temple. Temple prasadam was served as lunch, following these events. Overall, Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple blessed us with a day of powerful, divine energy.

On day nine of the 2019 Sri Lanka Innersearch, we visited the Sri Durga Devi Temple near Maviddapuram in Jaffna. This is a well-known Temple involved in numerous community oriented activities and charitable work. Temples in Jaffna are the hub, not only for spiritual unfoldment, but for the preservation of culture, education and the for the welfare of devotees. The large and colorful four-sided gopurams are a recent development and make this temple the second largest in Jaffna.

With yesterday and this morning being the annual celebration of Chellappaswami's Mahasamadhi, it's a good time to share our 2019 Innersearch visit to Chellapaswami's Shrine in Nallur. Here are some photos taken with Satguru and pilgrims during the worship at Chellappaswami's hut. Siddhanathaswami did the abhishekam assisted by Rishi Thondunatha.

In the afternoon of March 21st, the Innersearch visited a special place just to the south of Jaffna. Dr. Aru Thirumurugan, head of the Siva Boomi Trust in Sri Lanka has been doing so much service in various areas of the north. The Tiruvasagam Palace in Navatkuli is yet another spectacular project undertook by his team. The work was completed in June of 2018. The full Tiruvasakam is carved in 12 languages on granite walls and displayed around a hall which circles a Dakshinamurti shrine. Around are 108 perfectly carved Sivalingams and corresponding hanging bells. As devotees circumambulate the shrine they ring the bell above each Sivalingam. The Tiruvasakam Palace is a scene to behold and an experience to forever cherish. After circling the compound, the Innersearchers enjoyed an enchanting Nagaswaram performance by P.S. Balamurugan and company.

More photos from the Innersearch Program's visit to Naguleswaram Temple. Each Innersearch pilgrim was given a small kumbha with abhishekam milk. Lead by Satguru, pilgrims walked from Keerimalai Madham to the Naguleswaram Temple where the offering was performed by the priest for the Sivalingam. After the offering Innersearch pilgrims sat to enjoy the darshan of the temple. Naguleswaram is one of the oldest shrines of the region. After puja, Bodhinatha conducted a class at Keerimalai Madham.

Gurudeva's work appears in numerous magical ways. This came in to Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami during the trip to Keerimalai. It's a pocketbook of Hinduism's tenets on God and Soul in a question and answer format and is both simple and profound. This booklet coincidentally was given out during the 1981 Innersearch. Gurudeva stands majestically on the back cover and the inside has both English and Tamil versions.

On March 21st, the eighth day of the innersearch, pilgrims were brought to Keerimalai located at the northern tip of the Jaffna Peninsula. Spring water from the Keerimalai pools are renowned mineral water that is believed to have healing properties. There are separate swimming areas for women and men. Later in the day pilgrims were blessed to visit the Naguleswaram temple.

After a long 24-hour flight from Singapore with a 3-hour layover in Tokyo, our team of five arrived at Lihue this morning

With our Innersearch team on their way back from Sri Lanka (stay tuned for further reports of the program), they've had a chance to enjoy a few days in Singapore. It was an opportunity for the traveling monks to spend time with members there while taking an outing to Gardens by the Bay. Comprised of two bio-domes, this billion dollar garden has an uncanny amount of rare and beautiful plants to enjoy.

During their time in Jaffna, Innersearch pilgrims could wake up really early to catch rides on the pre-arranged Tuk-Tuks (auto rickshaws) before the 5:00 am puja at Nallur Temple. The pre-dawn temple tower scenes are just stunning with the blue light hour as a backdrop. Pilgrims from Innersearch got to attend at least four days during their stay in Jaffna. As the full moon day gets closer, it is shown as the backdrop for the tower and its kalasa .