During the recent Mahasamadhi Observances, all the pilgrims worked together on an art project. It was to take some black and white are and using chalk color the Saiva scenes.

The board was 4 feet by 8 feet, as shown here in its completed form. We will share it below along with Gurudeva's words on his vision in Mauritius, of which more in the days ahead.

"In 1986 I had a powerful vision of Lord Ganesha while I was here in Mauritius looking for property for Saiva Siddhanta Church. Lord Ganesha was walking from His temple attended by two priests. He was about to take a bath in the beautiful Indian Ocean in the country of Mauritius where the river meets the sea. I was standing in the water with several sharks swimming around me. Lord Ganesha, accompanied by two priests, looked at me and said, 'Just rub some oil on their noses and they will not harm you.'

"The vision led me directly to this special land by the Rempart River and its lagoon. The Spiritual Park is a fulfillment of that vision. I see it combining environmental and architectural beauty that will give spiritual peace and mystical knowledge to visitors for many generations in the future. It is destined to become a pilgrimage site of great renown in the Indian Ocean area. Hindus from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Africa and India will come here."

Today thousands of Hindus attend the monthly homa at the Spiritual Park, burning their prayers in its magical fires. Outside the wooden, Kerala-style thatched pavilion, they crowd together in the shade of mango and sacred konrai trees to worship the nine-foot-tall, black granite murti of Lord Ganesha with five faces and ten arms. In this way, Gurudeva's mission has taken root on the tropical island that enchanted Mark Twain when he visited in 1896 and wrote: "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius."