We are blessed to have our chief architect here on site with us for a few days: Selvanathan Sthapati. He is working with Yoginathaswami and the silpis laying out the Nandi Mandapam work in detail.

Earlier today and yesterday, Sthapati and Yoginathaswami put in time to re-discover the center of the universe.

By this we mean the center line of Iraivan temple. This had been marked long before but with the roof on, and all the floor completed and scaffolding removed, Sthapati wanted to check and re-check, to ensure that Nandi and the Kodimaram would be precisely aligned with the inner sanctum.

Here is the center line marked on the threshold of the main entrance.

Proceeding inward, the line is marked on 2 by 4 spanners.

You can see a small mark there in on the floor tile in front of the sanctum steps.

Another mark on the steps themselves.

On the threshold of the main sanctum doorway.

And, finally, the most important marking of all has been made at the back wall of the inner sanctum.

This has been actually carved a bit into the stone so that we do not have to go search again later.

It is always good to keep track of the center of the universe, once you have found it!

back outside we see the outlines of the Nandi Mandapam.

In the center the pit has been dig completely through the compacted gravel into the earth. Here is where the Kodimaram will be connected directly to the ground underneath the cement foundation.