Nigel Siva sent us this announcement about the upcoming Ilankai Nallur Kathirkama Kanthan festival to be held on August 7th and 8th at the Murugan Temple of North America in Lanham, Maryland. Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathaswami will be attending this event, an annual pilgrimage they have both been making since 2004. The devotees of the temple are quite excited with this year's festival as they have a beautiful new chariot to take Lord Murugan around the temple. This Murugan temple is one of few in North American where devotees carry kavadi with spears. To see last year's 2008 Nallur Festival see the YouTube Nallur Festival Video

The first two granite pieces to ever be made for Gurudeva are Saint Tirumular and Saint Tiruvalluvar, whose statues grace the entrance to the Aadheenam courtyard. Here is Tirumular who is said to have stayed deep in meditation for 3000 years only to come into the conscious mind once a year to write one verse.

Tiruvalluvar, the weaver, busy writing the masterpiece of on human ethics and conduct, The Tirukural

And evening shot of Iraivan as the sun drops over the mountain to the west. The gilded towers glisten magically in the distance.