To attend worship at Kadavul Hindu Temple make a reservation here
FRONT GROUNDS ARE OPEN DAILY FROM 9AM to 12PM WITHOUT A RESERVATION

Kauai Aadheenam Humming with Activities

Things are humming at Kauai Aadheenam.

We continue to work on our archives and the vast collection of photos in our archives are being digitized. here is a classic Gurudeva shot. He is deep in meditation by the Maha Sphatika lingam in Kadavul after a puja there.

Progress on New Front Gate for Aadheenam

The metal sculptor who is crafting the new entrance gates for the monastery (remember the lotus motif) sends these photos to us today. He is working on the unopened lotus buds. He he shows his multi-layered sketch alongside the first and basic shape of the flower bud.

Here he has added the petals, and they are discolored due to the heat of his work.

Then he polishes the metal to reveal the final lotus bud.

Amazing Painting for Pitchai Gurukkal

When Bodhinatha was in India in February, after the Indian Odyssey, he went to Pillaiyarpatti and met the great priest who runs the temple and padasala there, Pichai Gurukkal. He learned that Gurukkal is having his 60th birthday this year, and in Hinduism that is a key passage of life and is celebrated in a major way.

Bodhinatha wanted to give a special gift, so he asked Palaniswami to make arrangements. After discussions with Gurukkal’s followers, it was decided to commission a work of art as the gift. Since the Agamas are so central to the priest’s mission, we chose the story from the Agamas, the story of how these revealed scriptures came to Earth. Siva, the source of all knowledge, handed the Agamas to Sakti, shown here in the upper left panel. Sakti then presented the Agamas to Nandi, who in turn gave them over to the ancient rishis. Here the rishi hands the sacred texts to Pichai Gurukkal who at the bottom then shares them with humanity.

Bodhinatha is leaving for India in early December, and we hope he can hand the gift over in person. The canvas is 24″ by 36″ and though it was just painted last month, could be 500 years old in style.

Skanda Shashthi Retrospective

The following are a series of photos taken during Gurudeva’s Mahasamadhi ceremonies, directly followed by the six day Skanda Shashthi festival held during the months of October and November, attended by devotees from around the world.

Visiting devotees in front of the sanctum of the Iraivan Temple.

An evening view of the sacred Mt. Waialeale and Wailua river and, to the far right as twilight falls, one can see the Iraivan Temple.

Paramacharya Palaniswami with Ravi and Sheela Rahavendran and their two children, Mayuresh and Arthi.

With the visiting priest, Kumar Gurukkal, beside him, Paramacharya Palaniswami leads the way to the swayambhu lingam along the path of the Tamil Nayanar Saints.

Paramacharya Palaniswami performs abhishekam while Gurukkal chants devonic vedic chants to God Siva’s formless aspect of Parasivam.

Acharya Kumarswami then performs the sacred oblation to the Narmada lingam.

Devotees present also performed this holy traditional rite with water from the stream beside the lingam flowing from the most sacred Mt. Waialeale.

The Dandapanis, devotees from Alaska.

Paramacharya Palaniswami then led everyone to another area where Cocao trees and Neem trees were to be planted by all present.

Once the trees were in the ground, Kumar Gurukkal performed a puja blessing each tree in the traditional way.

Everyone then gathered around Paramacharya Palaniswami as he explained and shared the history and potential of the Cocao seed, as he lovingly handed out real chocolate squares for all to enjoy, oh so yummy!

. . . and then handed everyone the kernal of a Cocao seed to taste which tasted just like . . . chocolate!

Video of First Havana at Iraivan Temple

We’re pleased to present a short video of the first havana that was held at the San Marga Iraivan Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery on October 25, 2008, during the seventh annual Gurudeva Mahasamadhi Observances festival. Many pilgrims from all around the world were present. The monks chanted a special yajna version of Sri Rudram.
This version is regular quality, for those who have low bandwidth:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UKm5O5XCB4
This version is higher quality, for those who have medium bandwidth:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UKm5O5XCB4
This version is HD quality, for those who have very high bandwidth:
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UKm5O5XCB4
(This video was uploaded in YouTube’s new HD 720p format. To really see the difference, click the button in the lower-right corner of the control-bar directly underneath the video above to enlarge it to full screen.)

Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.

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