Compilation by By Rajkumar Manickam

A group of us were on Kauai's south side and visited with tortoises in a nature reserve in Koloa. They are raised to be like a replacement for an ancient animal that used to graze in the area and is now extinct. For a long time the entrance walkway just before the Kadavul Temple dhvajasthambha has been congested in the spot where the shoe racks and benches are kept. Our employees have just finished constructing a new covered pad next to the path, where visitors can sit and store their shoes. This will allow a free flow of traffic on the main path itself. In the last photo, the concrete foundation has just been poured for the final extension of the Pillaiyar Kulam building for storing more publications and other Minimela items. Now it will cure for some time.  

Hawaii Magazine recently published a glowing review of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, highlighting the breathtaking beauty of the temple and the peaceful atmosphere that envelops visitors. The reviewer, who visited the monastery on a sunny afternoon, was struck by the stunning architecture and the sense of serenity that pervaded the entire complex.

She noted the attention to detail and the reverence with which the space had been constructed, and was equally struck by the sense of calm that pervaded this space. She was left with a newfound appreciation for the traditions and spirituality of the Hindu religion.

See the article here: www.hawaiimagazine.com/a-sacred-journey-to-kauai-aadheenam

Today we received six photos from Sri Lanka, and the good news that the temple is finished. Installation of the Sivalingam is scheduled for March 27 and will be presided over by none other than Sri Prasanna Kurukkal from Nallur Temple, who will conduct the Kumbhabhishekam rites. Thondunatha tell us they are now at work on infrastructure, plumbing, electrical, storage facilities, etc. For those who are new to the area, Alaveddy is where Gurudeva stayed as a young man, in the home of Kandiah Chettiar (on this very property, the house has been removed), It was Chettiar who introduced Gurudeva to Yogaswami in 1949. Thondunatha ended his note saying, "Everyone, especially the people of Alaveddy, are so excited to see this beautiful unique shrine in their village."

Enjoy the photos of this meditation pavilion soon to be open to all, a place of solace and quietude to inspire the inward journey that Yogaswami spoke of so often.

During the 2022 Maha Samadhi Celebrations for Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Kumar Gurukkal performed the official installation of a black granite statue of Gurudeva. The statue had been shipped to the Aadheenam from India with the final batch of stones for Iraivan Temple. During the Mahasamadhi events, monks and pilgrims paraded the murti to the monastery entrance area for installation. This area is becoming more and more of a spiritual park, housing small shrines and murtis that visitors can view and enjoy during our closed hours. You can see the parade in slide 38 of this post. Gurudeva was in need of a shrine, so one of our monks was given the task of building this wooden roof for him. Aum.

In an interesting conjunction of seemingly unrelated events, today was the 292nd Pada Puja held each Chittra nakshatra for Gurudeva's Grand Departure, 7,997 days ago. And the Insight for this next issue of Hinduism Today magazine is being printed in the Midwest, the April/May/June 2023 issue, which explores in depth India's genius system of spiritual training, the Guru-Shishya relationship. The art for this feature was done by Maniam Selven of Chennai, in his inimitable South Indian style, inherited from his renowned father.

In shrine rooms all over the world Gurudeva's shishyas are celebrating him, his life and mission and giving offerings in thanks for the light and insight he brought into their lives. Thank you, Gurudeva!

Sun Salutations Śivabhaktars! Are you perpetually pulled by a passion to promote prolifically about pavilions? No? Well today we caved, crafting coverage of the contemporary canvas coverings above the Swayambhu Lingam Mandapam. Two tepees were also tented up over Ganesha and Murugan towering over the temple's threshold. These big topped tabernacles trigger a tremendous transformation of the terra. Such structures are a spectacular soft shell shade, shining in the sun, significantly sturdier than their soft structured seniors. OK that's enough for today. Aum Namah Sivaya!

Not shown on our blog until now, Day Two Afternoon involved preparing for and blessing the shilpis to place ashtabandhanam around the base of Nandi, Balipeetam and Dhvajasthambha. Ashtabandhanam is a clay-like paste made of eight specific herbs mixed with wood lac, limestone powder, resin, red ochre, beeswax and butter. Normally it is used to affix a Deity to its pedestal, but in this instance it was symbolically rubbed on top of red-colored mortar mix applied earlier to protect against our extra wet environment.

About 40 years ago Gurudeva noticed that the mountain which dominates our Western view (and is the long-extinct central volcano of Kauai island) changed from day to day, sometimes spectacularly so. He asked the monks to begin collecting photos of what he called "The Many Moods of Mount Waialeale." The years passed and the mountain revealed its wet self, its sunset self, its rainbow self, its waterfalls self, its cloud-shrouded self. One by one these different mountains were captured. We will probably never print that fancy coffee table book, as that is so last millennium. But we do plan to put the images in a newly-designed Virtual Tour in 2023. Ahead of that, we offer over 150 photos and art that reveal the dance of light that Siva performs each day to entertain and amaze monks and visitors alike.

Timelapse:

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A post shared by Kauai's Hindu Monastery (@kauaishindumonastery) on Oct 17, 2020 at 9:30pm PDT