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

New Phase Begins at the Aadheenam

A new phase began today with homa and Bodhinatha giving the State of the Church address for 2009, which he is now giving in April, after Tamil New Year.

Iraivan Temple's Inner Sanctum

The Ganapati Kulam is hard at work on the July/August/September, 2009, edition of Hinduism Today. This issue's feature article will be about Iraivan Temple. It is a beautiful, colorful article penned by our correspondent Lavina Melwani in New York. The worshipful image of Iraivan Temple, the maha sphatika Sivalingam, figures prominently. Out of our archives we dug this image, painted by artist Manivelu in Chennai, updating it with Photoshop magic to show the avudaiyar (base of the lingam) in panchaloka, a special type of bronze that is a blend of five metals prescribed in the Agamas for certain temple murtis. As you have seen on TAKA recently, this massive, 10,000-pound metal base has recently been cast by sthapatis in Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu. It is now getting its final touches before it is shipped to Kauai.

Wailua Mission Gathers Rudraksha Beads

Following Sun One at Kadavul Temple, Wialua Mission Members met at the Rudraksha Forest entrance on Kuamo'o Road to collect the rudraksha fruit. This is the first step in the process of preparing the sacred rudraksha seeds to share with the world from the Mini-Mela gift shop and website as a fund raiser for Iraivan Temple.

This year we are gathering earlier than usual as our stock of beads is running low.

Often the forest floor is covered with the amazing indigo colored fruit, however today there were not too many beads to pick in the forest.

We found another area where more fruit had fallen near the Wailua River. In the future the steps leading to Iraivan Temple will eventually be set near here.

Under the shade of the Rudraksha trees and within earshot of the sacred river, the energy of the sacred grounds seems to clear the mind and uplift the spirit.

Rudraksha fruit among the roots of the trees and the fallen leaves.

Step two in the process is to soak the fruit.

After churning in a cement mixer with sand and gravel for three hours, the seeds are ready to be drilled. Followed by individually placing each bead on a specially designed rack for power washing. Finally the beads are oiled, rinsed and ready for making into sacred rudraksha malas.

Each full bucket of beads is reduced by half after the fruit is removed in the cement mixer step. So far twelve five gallon buckets of beads have been collected.

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

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