One of Gurudeva’s ideas for Iraivan temple was to place 35 bronze plaques along the outside wall covering a wide range of subjects so that pilgrims of the future will use them as a bronze illustrated library to understand the temple, how, why and by whom it was built. 

As you walk around the base of Iraivan Temple, you can explore the 35 bronze panels, which the founder called a library in bronze. They contain a timeline of the temple, from vision to consecration, and concisely capture the founder and architect, the simple technology used, the story of the holy svayambhu sphatika lingam, the monastery and its satguru and monks, the philosophy of Saiva Siddhanta represented by the temple, scriptural quotations and beliefs in multiple languages, and more.

It took many months to create the art and compose the text that would last a thousand years (no pressure, right?).  They also proved to be rather difficult to attach to their recessed panels but our local concrete coring company proved up to the task—after a bit of research and testing. 

It is expected pilgrims circumambulating the temple and reading each will get a complete education in the temple’s founder, sacred beginnings, construction, supporting philosophy and place within the grand tradition of Saivite Hinduism.

The 35 topics covered (in order, clockwise from the left side of the temple entry steps) include: Namasivaya mantra; Siva’s primary forms; the three worlds; the nature of the Siva temple; Sadasiva; the Panchabrahma Mantra; Gurudeva’s three visions which created Iraivan; how the temple was built; the temple timeline through 2023, the “wonderments” (including the giant crystal, stone chains and more); the meaning of the carvings upon each of the temple’s 24 pillars; twelve Shum meditations; Gurudeva’s biography; his most memorable quotes; his seminal Self God talk (on two panels); the guru lineage; quotes from Satguru Yogaswami (1872-1964) and Chellappaswami (1840-1915); Kauai’s Hindu Monastery; San Marga, the Straight Path to God, of which the temple is part; the goals of the monastery; Saivism’s affirmation of faith in multiple languages; a Creed of the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy in English, Tamil and Sanskrit; a summary of Saiva Siddhanta; Gurudeva’s teachings on the Three Perfections of Siva; his teachings on Sadhana and Self Realization;  excerpts from the Tamil Devaram, Tiruvasagam, Tirumantiram, Tirukural and songs of Tayumanavar; and holy verses from the Vedas and Agamas.

Let’s View The Panels

Gurudeva exclaimed, “The Saivite Hindu religion brings to us one of the greatest gifts, the working together of the Three Worlds—worlds within one another where great Intelligent Beings live who have evolved through eons of time and are able to help mankind without themselves having to live in a physical body. These great Mahādevas, with their multitudes of devas, live and work constantly and tirelessly for the people of our religion, protecting and guiding them, opening doors and closing unused ones. The Hindu temple is the place to go to meet and contact the great Overlords of our religion. They live there.”

Śaiva temples, whether they be small village sanctuaries or towering citadels thousands of years old, are like no other place on Earth. Strict rules from the Āgamas are followed to create spaces where holiness, God, can reside. Over decades, the power becomes strong, forming an invisible, bubble- like shield around the temple which keeps out gross vibrations and allows the heaven worlds to be strongly present. As you approach God’s home, you can feel the spiritual energy, and as you go inside you are engulfed in peace. Here the devas and Gods can easily hear your prayers.

Here the ancient scriptures are chanted in Sanskrit by competent priests as they knowingly perform the traditional rites. Here joyous festivals are celebrated and arduous pilgrimages concluded. At the high point of pūjā, as bells ring loudly and conches blow, the Deity sends rays of blessings through the enshrined image, or mūrti, which is the God’s physical plane form. Flooding your aura, this energy can erase worries, clear confusion and relieve sadness. Devotees leaving the temple feel inspired and lightened of burdens.

Gurudeva explained, “Though the devotee rarely has the psychic vision of the Deity, he is aware of the God’s divine presence. He is aware through feeling, through sensing the divine presence within the temple. As he approaches the sanctum sanctorum, the Hindu is fully aware that an intelligent being, greater and more evolved than himself, is there. This God is intently aware of him, safeguarding him, fully knowing his inmost thought, fully capable of coping with any situation the devotee may mentally lay at His holy feet.”

Before dawn on February 15, 1975, as 48-year-old Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami lay resting in his monastic quarters, three visions of God Śiva unfolded before him. In his own words, “I saw Lord Śiva walking in the meadow near the Wailua River. Then I saw His face peering into mine. Then He was seated upon a great stone, His reddish golden hair flowing down His back. I was seated on His left side. This was the vision. It became more vivid as the years passed. Upon reentering Earthly consciousness, I felt certain that the great stone was somewhere on our monastery land and set about to find it.

Guided from within by my satguru, I hired a bulldozer and instructed the driver to follow me as I walked to the north edge of the property that was then a tangle of buffalo grass and wild guava. I hacked my way through the jungle southward as the bulldozer cut a path behind me. After almost half a mile, I sat down to rest near a small tree. Though there was no wind, suddenly the tree’s leaves shimmered as if in the excitement of communication. I said to the tree, ‘What is your message?’ In reply, my attention was directed to a spot just to the right of where I was sitting. When I pulled back the tall grass, there was a large rock—the self-created Liṅgam on which Lord Śiva had sat. A stunningly potent vibration was felt.

The bulldozer’s trail now led exactly to the sacred stone, surrounded by five smaller boulders. San Mārga, the ‘straight or pure path’ to God, had been created.” Gurudeva resolved to capture the spiritual power of that vision through constructing a traditional Agamic temple. Thus was born the Iraivan Temple. Iraivan, “He who is worshiped,” is one of the oldest words for God in the Tamil language.

The bulldozer’s trail now led exactly to the sacred stone, surrounded by five smaller boul Gurudeva, who lived to see the first course of stones of the vimanam set in place, shared, “As I look into the future, I see Iraivan, fully completed, as a center where devotees will come to find the center of themselves. We will preserve it and maintain it so that it is the way Rishikesh used to be, a proper, pure, quiet place where devotees can go within themselves through the practice of yoga. There are very few such places left on the Earth now. Kauai’s Hindu Monastery is one of them. I see Iraivan as a yoga citadel, a place of pilgrimage for the devout, sincere and dedicated. I see Iraivan as India’s message to the world. I see Iraivan as a fulfillment of our lineage, our scriptures and our monastery. This is a place where you do not have to invoke God, for God is here, for this is where heaven meets the Earth.”

Śiva’s front left hand is pointing toward His raised left foot, symbol of ­ revealing grace (anugraha), by which the soul comes to know its onene­ss with God. Śiva’s left earring is feminine; the right earring is masculine, reminding us that God embraces both male and female. Śiva is also Dakshiṇāmūrti, the silent guru spoken of in the Upanishads, and Bhairava, His fierce form. Other scriptures speak of Hari-Hara, half Śiva and half Vishṇu. This icon symbolizes the union and non-difference of the two major Gods of Hinduism. The Śaiva Āgamas give us Pañcha­ brahma, Śiva with five faces. The Triśūla, or trident, is also worshiped as Śiva. Its points represent love, action and wisdom. The Tirumantiram declares, “Everywhere is the Holy Form. Everywhere is Śiva-Śakti…. Everywhere is the Divine Dance.”

There are three worlds of ex­istence. The First World is the physical universe, the gross plane, called Bhūloka. This is the world we see with our eyes and touch with our hands. It is the material world, where we have our experiences, create karma and fulfill the desires and duties of life in a physical body. The Second World is the subtle or astral plane, the in-between realm called Antarloka. This world exists within the physical plane. As our thoughts and feelings are part of that inner world, we are functioning in the astral world even while we are awake. During sleep, we leave our physical body and are aware in that inner world fully.

The Antarloka has many levels, spanning the spectrum of consciousness from the hellish Naraka regions, where asuras, demonic beings, dwell, to the highest region of the Devaloka where abide devas, or angels. When our physical body dies, we live fully in the Antarloka in our subtle body. The Third World is the causal plane, the world of light and blessedness, called Śivaloka. This highest plane is the home of God Śiva and the Gods who assist Him, such as Lord Gaṇeśa and Lord Murugan. It is also the home of highly advanced souls who exist in their brilliant soul form. We experience the Śiva­ loka when we see the inner light or have a vision of the Deities.

The world, in all three of its dimensions, is God’s flawless creation. It is easy to see the many problems around us, but from the highest perspective everything is perfect. Since God is everywhere and in all things, there can be no place for evil, which is often looked upon as a force against God. But we know that all forces are God’s forces, even natural disasters and hateful or hurtful actions. This may be hard to understand when we see the pains and prob­ lems caused by people. Looking deeper, we see that what is called evil has its own purpose. Yes, bad things happen. Still, the wise never blame God, for they know such things are the return of our self-created kar­ mas, lessons that help us learn and mature.

The nature of the world is duality. It contains each thing and its opposite: joy and sorrow, goodness and evil, love and hate. Suffering is a natural part of human life that causes much spiritual growth for the soul. It offers the realization that true happiness and freedom cannot be found in the world, for earthly joy is bound to sorrow. We must not despise or fear the world. Life is meant to be lived joyously.

This five-faced form is among the most complex depictions of God Śiva, revealing the profound Hindu understanding of divinity and ­ cosmology. The Śaiva Āgamas tell us that when Parāśakti manifests through five śaktis, It is known as Sadāśiva. The Āgamic mūrtis of these five energies are enshrined in niches around the inner sanctum of Iraivan Temple, starting on the left as you face the sanctum doorway: Tatpurusha, Aghora, Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva and Īśāna. Four of these forms also reign on Iraivan’s uppermost tower, gracing the cardinal directions. From left to right in this panel’s bas-relief: Vāmadeva (“lovely, pleasing”) wields the power of preservation. His element is water, and His Pañchākshara syllable is Ma. Tatpurusha (“supreme soul”) wields the power of obscuration. His element is air, and His syllable is Vā. Īśāna (“ruler”) wields the power of revealment. His element is ether, and His syllable is Ya. Aghora (“nonterrifying”) wields the power of dissolution. His element is fire, and His syllable is Śi.

Sadyojāta (“quickly birthing”) wields the power of creation. His element is earth and His syllable is Na. Four faces are said to have revealed the Vedas; the fifth (Īśāna) revealed the Āgamas. During the pūjā, the priest visualizes the form and limbs of the Deity, as he invokes the Divine presence into the Śivaliṅga. Īśāna corresponds to the head; Tatpurusha, the face; Aghora, the heart and chest; Vāmadeva, the hips and other lower regions; and Sadyojāta, the limbs, hands and feet.

Śiva with five faces, also known as Pañchabrahma, is described in the Ajita Āgama (20, 158-164a) in the following instructions to temple priests: “With steady mind and controlled senses, one should meditate on ­ Śiva’s body sitting in the lotus posture, shining with the color of pure crystal, endowed with five heads, serene, with smiling faces, having the brilliance of ten million suns, of new full-blown youth, with ten arms, brightened by a crest of tawny tresses rolled upwards, each face having three radiant eyes, or śaktis, with the crescent moon of wisdom in His hair, the Cause of all causes.”

The great Pañchabrahma Mantrāṇī describes Sadāśiva in five verses. It is found in the Kṛishṇa Yajurveda, Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 10.17-21. Here the verses are cited in reverse order (21 to 17), just as they are chanted during pūjā.

ईशाानस्सर्ववविद्याानं ईश्वरस्सर्ववभूूताानं
ब्रह्माििधपतिताब्रवणोोऽधिपतिताब्रवा
ह्मािशार्वो मेे अस्तुु सदााह्मािशार्वोम् ॥

īśānassarva̍vidyā̱nā̱ṁ īśvarassarva̍bhūtā̱nā̱ṁ brahmādhi̍pati̱r brahma̱ṇo’dhi̍pati̱r brahmā̍ śi̱vo me̍ astu sadāśi̱vom ||

May Īśāna, the Master of wisdom, Lord of all beings, protector of Vedic knowledge, commander of creation, the all-pervading Supreme Being, the eternally auspicious One, be benevolent to me. Om!

तत्पुुरु॑॑ षााय विर्व॒द्महे॑े॑ मेहे॑ादा॒ेर्वाय॑ धीमहि ।
तन्नो॑ो॑ रु॑द्रःः प्रचो॒॒दायात् ॥

tatpuru̍ṣāya vi̱dmahe̍ mahāde̱vāya̍ dhīmahi |
tanno̍ rudraḥ praco̱dayā̎t ||

May we know the Primal Soul, Tatpuruṣa, and meditate on that Great Divinity. O Rudra, guide and enlighten us.

अ॒घोरेभू्योऽथ॒ घोरेभू्यो॒ घोर॒घोर॑तरेभ्यः।
सर्वेभू्यस्सर्व॒ शर्वेभू्यो॒ नम॑स्ते अस्तु रु॒द्ररू॑पेभ्यः॥

a̱ghore̎bhyo’tha̱ ghore̎bhyo̱ ­ ghora̱ghora̍tarebhyaḥ |
sarve̎bhyassarva̱ śarve̎bhyo̱ nama̍ste astu ru̱drarū̍pebhyaḥ ||

To Aghora Śiva, whose countless forms are benign, frightful and even terrifying, to all Your forms, O Rudra, in every place, at every time, we offer salutations.

र्वामे॒दा॒ेर्वाय॒ नमेो ज्ये॒॒ष्ठााय॒ नमे॑श्श्रे॒॒ष्ठााय॒ नमेो॑ रु॒॑द्रःाय॒ नमे॒ कााला॑ा॑य॒ नमे॒ काला॑॑विर्वकारणोाय॒ नमेो बला॑॑विर्वकारणोाय॒ नमेो बला॑ा॑य॒ नमेो बला॑॑प्रमथनाय॒ नमे॒स्सर्वव ॑ भूूतादामेनाय॒ नमेो॑ मे॒नोन्म॑॑नाय॒ नमे॑ ॥

vā̱ma̱de̱vāya̱ namo̎ jye̱ṣṭhāya̱ nama̍ḥ ­ śre̱ṣṭhāya̱ namo̍ ru̱drāya̱ namaḥ̱ kālā̍ya̱namaḥ̱ kala̍vikaraṇāya̱ namo̱ bala̍vikaraṇāya̱ namo̱ balā̍ya̱ namo̱ bala̍pramathanāya̱ nama̱ssarva̍bhūtadamanāya̱ namo̍ ma̱nonma̍nāya̱ namaḥ̍ ||

Obeisance to Vāmadeva, the splendid God, the primordial, the unrivaled, the remover of suffering, time eternal, the root of weakness, the source of strength, strength itself, vanquisher of the strong, destroyer of all. Prostrations to the mind’s creator and confounder.

भूर्वे भूर्वेनातिताभूर्वे भूर्वस्वमें भूर्वोद्भर्वायनमेः॥
सद्याोजाातां प्रपद्याातिमे सद्याोजाातााय र्वै नमेो नमेः।

sa̱dyojā̱taṁ pra̍padyā̱mi̱ sa̱dyojā̱tāya̱
vai namo̱ namaḥ̍ | bha̱ve bha̍ve̱nāti̍bhave bhavasva̱mām
bha̱vodbha̍vāya̱namaḥ̍ ||

I take refuge in Sadyojāta, swift creator of the cosmos. Bowing again and again, I beseech You to free me from birth after birth to abide beyond sam.sāra. Obeisance to You, O cause of being!