The monastery is in the process of procuring and setting up a remote-controlled quadcopter with a video camera mounted on it to shoot detailed aerial footage of the monastery, Iraivan Temple, festival processions and such. This first test footage uses a temporary camera and did not employ a gyro and gimbal, which will allow the shooting of perfectly smooth footage, reminiscent of floating delicately around the scene and being able to pan, tilt and zoom during shooting. It was a fun test! Stay tuned for more refinements.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtIAc5Oxek

When visitors see our arid plants, they are surprised. We tell them, it is either very foolish or very brave to try to have a desert in 95 inches of rain. And in truth, many don't make it. But some do, and they are a wonderful contrast to the lush tropical plants that dominate the gardens.

An Arizona supporter recently sent some cactus to add to the garden, a gift from the real desert, and he asked us to take some photos of our arids to show to the nurseryman. So, today we took a flurry of photos and offer them to you.

Recently the monastery received a wonderful boon. A housing development project just 15 minutes away has cut down several nice trees. Kumarnathaswami, Arumuganathaswami, Brahmanathaswami and Sadhaka Jayanatha have spent the last few days collecting the logs and transporting them to the monastery to eventually be milled and used for future projects. So far we've acquired dozens of camphor logs as well as several other large pieces. These few photos were taken at a funny moment when two giant (and very heavy) logs had to be lifted off the trailer using both the tractor and the skid-steer.

The Living Temple of Siva's Garden is so full of botanical creatures, every walk one takes through it offers surprises. Here are some of today's.

Recently, the monastery held its evening celebration of Sivalaya Deepam, worshiping God Siva as a pillar of fire. Deepam lamps were placed throughout the temple and the nandi mandapam, creating a beautiful glow which lasted the night.

Satguru Bodhinatha and Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami visited the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah during the weekend of November 16-17, graciously hosted by long-time Saiva Siddhanta Church member Aditya Vinadhara. In the 80's and 90's, Aditya was instrumental in helping Gurudeva to start the worship of Ganesha in Utah and engineer the subsequent steps of creating the present temple complex. During those early years Gurudeva gifted the beautiful granite Ganesha which is currently the main Deity of the temple. On Sunday morning Satguru Bodhinatha gave a presentation on Hindu Tools for Success and Spiritualizing Your Charitable Giving for Hindus which was followed by an animation entitled The Essentials of Financial and Estate Planning. The temple has one endowment with Hindu Heritage Endowment, the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah Endowment Fund, which was created by Aditya and is now generously funded by the devotees of the temple. On Sunday afternoon, Shanmuganathaswami presented a color meditation class to about fifty children, parents and teachers which featured the color animation short, The Seven Chakras. Hindu religious classes for children are held every Sunday, and the children gave a demonstration of their impressive Sanskrit chanting skills. The local, pre-winter weather was cool and brisk, and the nearby majestic Rocky Mountains east of the temple, which were lightly brushed with a fresh coat of snow, gave the devotional feeling of being at the foot of the sacred Himalayan peaks. The ever-expanding temple complex includes the Ganesha temple, the India Cultural center, priests quarters and a children's playground. Future plans for the temple include a larger building for the temple, more parking spaces and new priest's quarters. Visit the temple website at www.sghtu.org

Today we received this photo of the new carving being made in North India for the Media Studio. It will go near the Gurudeva carving we showed yesterday, on the other side of the stone entry cave. It is of course Ganesha scribing a holy text onto a palm leaf, using the old-style stylus. It is, after all, the Ganapati Kulam's space where all the word devas play, the publications are designed, the videos edited, the website engineered and populated, the artwork orchestrated….you get the idea. Jaya Ganesha!

Our Singapore devotees sent this photo of the 30" tall wooden carving of Gurudeva which they came forward to sponsor, destined for the walls of the entry cave of the Media Studio. These sponsorships, large and small, have been helpful in making this important space elegant, creative and, yes, a little bit outrageous.