After many months of construction and recently passing occupancy inspection by county departments, the Siddhidata Kulam can now officially move into the maintenance and storage sections of the new building. They hired our Iraivan Temple priest, Pravin Kumar Gurukal, to perform a "house blessing" puja on his day off.

Enjoy this slideshow of images from the event. Satguru made a point to attend despite having only returned from the Bangkok World Hindu Congress a couple hours earlier.

Following are some of the specific progress steps taken over the last weeks.
During their final days here, the silpis crafted a beautiful granite sign for the new maintenance shop, storage and office building, called Hale Hana.

The concrete "apron" around the building cured and is ready to use

Mobile tool storage units with work counters were assembled.

A simple bathroom indoors was completed

The storage rooms are all painted and lit, with trip along the base of walls.

Trim was installed around all the doors, and some windows placed.

The first photo shows a new platform on the side of Muruga Hill which will soon host the murti of Kartikeya which has been sitting just before the svayambhulingam for so many years.

The other photos reveal that employee Dennis Wong has placed rocks and gravel on most of the section in the bamboo corridor. He is close to reaching the rudraksha grove.

On a recent sunny morning, a crew of six or seven masons worked seamlessly together to pour a cement "apron" around three sides of the new Siddhidata Kulam maintenance shop and office/storage building. This will help lessen the amount of dirt and mud tracked into the building

The silpis have been working this last week on a new granite sign for the Siddhidatta Kulam workshop, called Hale Hana, or House of Work in Hawaiian. Check out their skills in turning an illustrator file into permanent granite.

Two events in one post:
1) A couple weeks ago Island School made their annual student field trip over here as part of studying world religions. They also visited other religions' places of worship on the island.
Isani Alahan gave a tour which included attending part of the Siva puja in Iraivan Temple. Most of these photos were taken by 8th grade teacher Pat Gegen. He reported afterwards, "Thank You again for the wonderful tours you provide for us and our students and the wisdom and insights into better understanding Hinduism as practiced here on Kauai. I continue to learn more every year and it is always a highlight for the students."

2) The other day we affixed a kalasam to the top of the small Ganesha shrine on San Marga path. A Ganesha murti will be officially installed inside in the coming weeks.

Completing another stage of construction on the new maintenance/office/storage building, the team spent a few days painting the sheetrock walls of several downstairs storage rooms. Some of these rooms will be dehumidified for storing sensitive material.

With lots of dry weather perfect for outdoor construction projects, much progress is being made with laying down rock and gravel on the San Marga entrance path to Iraivan Temple. Working backwards from the river, employee Dennis has completed up to and around Muruga Hill.

A new path has been built leading from Hanuman's Mountain into the Rudraksha Forest. It is six feet wide and 200 feet long, to be planted with grass in the weeks ahead. Now visitors can enjoy the sacred forest without tripping on roots. The path leads to San Marga, where it connects with the larger, 8-foot-wide Pilgrims' Path leading to Iraivan Temple.

Our employee and longtime friend Dennis Wong has finished laying rock and gravel in the lower section of the official pilgrims' path to Iraivan Temple, and now he is heading up the straight San Marga path, from the svayambhulingam heading backwards.