Here is another snippet from our Hinduism Today interviews in Melbourne. One day, Swami Avdheshanand, the head of the Juna Akhara (an order of 500,000 sadhus) in North India, and a recipient of our Hindu of the Year award, invited Bodhinatha, Palaniswami and Senthilnathaswami to lunch at the home of a devotee he was staying with in a Melbourne suburb.

Swamiji had this to say: “Hinduism Today magazine is a wonderful work. It’s a divine work, and I can say it is the work of God. That is the only work that can perpetuate our values, principles, parampara, sampradaya, all our traditions, cultures, customs. So, really, I am very happy. I appreciate all of you. I admire all of you. And I salute all of you because Hinduism Today is a wonderful work on this Earth. I have only word for Hinduism Today, that is a divine work. You are doing God’s work. Amazing, Swamiji, amazing. I admire this work because Hinduism Today is sustaining, promoting, emphasizing, preserving, cultivating ethics and values. Hinduism Today is the face of Hindu culture, tradition, Hindu values. This is not only a magazine, this is the face, this is the soul of Hindu values. Hinduism Today’s work is divine work.”

(And yes, the head of India’s largest order of sadhus carries a Blackberry. He felt quite comfortable with us, with our iPhones and all.)

Another series from the Iraivan temple carving site. Today: stone being carved for the Nandi Mandapam.