It has been a long six-day phase. Early this morning Acharya Arumugaswami and Sannyasin Yoginathaswami left for India for a short nine-day trip… 2 days travel each away and whirl-wind 5 days on the ground, monitoring and moving forward projects we have in the works there in the holy land.

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END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming three-day retreat,
until Tritiya Tithi, Sun One, Tuesday, October 6th.

Several visitors from New York, Nevada, and California enjoyed the enchantment of the Aadheenam spiritual paradise.

Shivakummar and Shanta Dandappanavara, Sarojini and Natraj Narayanswami, and Aruna and Vikas Pabpat in front of the entrance to the Iraivan Temple.

Vena Chitturi and Ashwin Cattamanchi arrived with their families and friends for a special blessing prior to their wedding which will take place tomorrow on a beautiful property in Kilauea on Kauai. Following a wonderfully uplifting puja in the Kadavul Temple, they and their large wedding party toured the very beautiful Iraivan Temple.

Vena and Ashwin pose in front of the granite pillar depicting the Tirukalyanum or Hindu wedding. Immortalized in stone, one can see the groom leading his bride by the hand taking those seven steps around the homa fire -- symbolizing those seven sacred vows.

In front of the famous Lion Pillars

Families and guests pose with Vena and Ashwin in front of the entrance to the temple. A special invitation into the Guru Temple later awaited them where Ashwin and Vena received the special blessings of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

With the giant wedding party here today, including Tavil and Nadaswaram players, the temple was packed. The foot-ware outside caught this photographer’s eye.

This innersearch on Kauai has limited seating of about 50 seats. We have nearly 40 applicants to date and the remaining seats are filling up fast. If you are thinking of coming, don’t wait too long to make your decision! The period for accepting applications will be closing in a few weeks.

A previous group who came to Guru Purnima. There is really nothing as sweet as satsang with Bodhinatha, the monks and all the devotees.

A banner from our previous Kauai Study program.

Uma Sivanathan bringing guests for the tour and temple puja today.

Each week our circle of friends and well wishers grows. Some have come before and bring friends and family to see the progress. New comers are inspired and carry a message of peace back to their homes and family. Gurudeva’s vision is truly encircling the world.

Koi were developed from common carp in Japan in the 1820s, and are still very popular there as they are a symbol of love and friendship. Koi are sprinkled all through the Aadheenam’s many pools.

Raj and Geetha Rajendran from Texas and Sukumar and Shanthi Pattnaik from Davis, California. They were very helpful on the tour, even telling our guests how to cook Jackfruit!