Easvan and Devi had darshan with Bodhinatha on Sivaratri morning. They have since flown home to California. Thank you Easvan for all you contributions to the Aadheenam, and the word among some of the monks is that Devi is one fabulous cook!

It is an auspicious week for the Rajavendran family. On Sivaratri night they took their Vrata Sishya vows and today Mayuresh had his Karnavedha Samskara.

The family will be taking the last name of “Visswanathan” which is Ravi’s father’s name, now that they are part of our Saiva family.

Earlier this morning we had our Sun one homa. Mayuresh received his first ear-rings.

Saravananathaswami does the insertion. Mayuresh is brave and does not flinch.

Now the left ear.

Bodhinatha signs the samskara certificate.

Kulapati Jiva Rajasankara writes:

Aum Sivaya

I have attached a set of photos on the carving of the karnakoodu. This sits on the vylan vari. It is a smaller version of the capstone . There are 12 in numbers.
You can see the how detail the silpis have carved. There is no vacant space at all. Full of intricate carvings. It will be the only temple in the world where such hand carvings is in progress and possibly the last such temple too because the skill for this hand work may be lost in the next generation in India.

Mamalapuram near Chennai is the main place in India where one goes to get a temple carved and a statue made. It was 90% handmade with 10% machines until 1980.

Today all stone carving are only 5% handmade and 95% machine cut. You would be surprised — when the power supply goes off, they stop their work!!!

Carving by hand has become extinct. Only Gurudeva has revived this dying tradition. You pay out more and have to wait for years. No one has the patience of Gurudeva and Bodhinatha.

Here we see the karnakoodu with the kalasam. How beautiful it looks. It is just one side completed and another 3 sides to go. We have another 11 such karnakoodus to carve in the weeks ahead.

Here we see the 12 kalasams already carved. It takes about 5 days to carve one kalasam because it is only about 4 inches in height. Just imagine a silpi holding a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other hand trying to carve this tiny piece.

On March 2nd we had a big tour. Kulapati
Deva Seyon has the story:

Countdown before rush hour!
Robert, our very gracious parking attendant awaits the coming wave of
guests. Robert protects our neighbors from cars blocking their driveways
or mail boxes and keeps Public Tour Day as transparent as possible.

Hams Zee Vat and his wife Sylvia from
Lawai, with guests Tineke Dros from Holland and Elvrine Chow from Kapaa.
Members of the Sierra Club, they met Gurudeva years ago when He was
invited to give talks to their group. “We knew he was very special -- we
could feel His shakti!”

The Ganapati Kulam building (the eagles
nest) from the the Ritau flag pole.

The tour reservations were booked solid as
is the pattern now-a-days.

Wondrous sights for our visitors.

These beautiful families are now Iraivan
temple builders. Madhav and Sheela Jambotkar from Louisiana, Vishnas,
Arati and Neil Godbole from Saratoga California

Ravi and Sheela Rahavendran happened to be
in the Mini Mela when Bodhinatha arrived for his book signing and had
some Rudraksha’s blessed.

Vasant and Lata with their daughter from
Maryland take advantage of this rare opportunity to chat with
Bodhinatha.