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A Gift to My Mystical Spiritual Master

A Master Course student from Mauritius prepared this image as a gift to Bodhinatha on Guru Purnima. Click here or on the photo to see a large size image.

The student writes:

“I’ve used raw images from the web that are of low resolution. However, the concept behind it is very profound and mystical.

“The concept is as follows:

“Sitting on the Lotus flower, a symbol of spiritual evolution, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is the only person (mystical spiritual master) to be guiding us along the spiritual path by lifting our consciousness so that, we too, as the lotus which was once in gross consciousness to blossom and to expand fully in sublime higher consciousness.

“Moreover, there is a constellation of stars around the lotus flower as if spinning around Satguru are representation of thousands of souls (devotees) worldwide following the teachings of Satguru and at the same time performing their utmost dharma by pulling more souls to our sampradaya by sharing Saiva Siddhanta knowledge. Added to this, a very bright spot of light can be seen with the AUM, symbol in the middle. This is depicting our beloved Supreme Lord Shiva. Having Himself realized Shiva, Satguru illumined with bright white light is guiding other souls to merge with Siva and this is illustrated by a stream of stars (souls) converging towards Supreme Lord Shiva.

“Eventually, we can find some other bright stars (smaller in size) scattered around the Primal Soul. In fact, they have already realized the soul, attained Samadhi and free from rebirth. Yea, they are indeed illumined souls like Gurudeva, Siva Yogaswami, Maha Rishi Nandinatha and other great souls of other lineages still in the “seva” to our indomitable Hindu faith…Its no doubt, one day, all the stars (souls) will surely merge with Lord Shiva. Aum anbe shivamayam, satyame parashivam.

“Glory to Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami….we love you.”

Our Siddhidata Kulam Team

Our Siddhidata Kulam team does a great deal of work to keep the Aadheenam and the Iraivan temple running smoothly. Here are (left to right) Sadhaka’s Rajanatha, Tejadevanatha and Nilakantha on the right, working on a a cart for our new small welder.

The Masters of Metal!

The ceiling of their shop shows the results of recent handy work. Many man hours have been spent getting all the wiring up to code by running it through conduit. Weather-proof, fire-safe and long lasting.

The Siddhidata Kulam is responsible to keep the whole Iraivan temple operation running, providing for all the silpis’s needs, managing outside contractors and constantly providing the support logistics on site to keep the project moving forward.

Saivite Summer Camp – Toronto, Canada

On Saturday, June 26th an all-day Saivite Summer Camp was held at the Thiruvadi Nilayam, Toronto for the community’s youth. Fifty two youth of all ages attended the camp which was conducted by Rishi Thondunathan. participants were instructed about the Nine Beliefs of Hinduism, A Hindu Primer, Ten Questions about Hinduism and more from Gurudeva’s book, Dancing with Siva.

The camp began with a Puja to Chellappaswami, Yogaswami and Gurudeva.

One of the youth, Srirangan, participated at the camp celebarated his 19th Birthday

Lion's Protective Face

We asked our master buildeer, Selvanathan Sthapati, to explain the faces on Iraivan. Here is his response, received today from India: With regard to swami's question of Mahanaasi / kirtimukha – the difference in this two terms is as follows; Mahanasi means a big(maha) nose(naasi).This architectural form is seen on the gopuras and the vimanas. The shape is based on the face of lion and it is believed in tradition that this terrifying naasi form observes all the bad omen/evil things in and around the temple premises. This is the main reason that this form is created on the vimanas and gopuram.

These protective faces are common throughout the Hindu world.

Kirtimukha means Face of Glory or Fame. It is a hip ornamental feature seen on the dress of the gods and goddesses. This feature is based on the lion face with highly rich ornamentation.

There are dozens of these Mahanaasi on Iraivan temple.

In Bali, Hindus make special masks that are fearsome to the asuras and delightful to the devas.

What right-thinking asura would get near these three?

These are another ornamental feature that decorate the walls of the temples.

In fact, everywhere you look in Iraivan you see this.

You can hear these mahanaasi roar. Look closely, that is their roar artistically flowing from the mouth.

The small ones (as per swami's photos) are the chutra nasis (small nasikoodus) meaning a form with the outline of Mahanaasi but without lion face.

May all be protected by dharma. May all be protected by their good karma. May all be protected from harm.

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

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