The concrete team is forming up the path. The narrow white lines are the 2 x 4s they are installing.- A happy Gurudeva celebrates the concrete pour of the foundataion, which took 108 cement trucks!
- The temple is marked on top of the engineered fill (which is four feet deep in the ground) to guide the forming of the above ground concrete foundation
- For form takes shape on three sides following the careful markings.
- Concrete trucks line up all day long delivering the special fly-ash concrete mix.
- It’s hard work but the crew is strong and skilled.
- Showing the installation of the lava rock plinth, which took years to complete.
As the Garden Path surrounding Iraivan Temple takes shape (the first concrete trucks arrive tomorrow), we reflect on how far it has come in recent years. Building such an architectural gem on a remote island presents special challenges, and those challenges have been overcome one by one with Gurudeva’s inner guidance and blessings and Bodhinatha’s practical genius.
The Garden Path has several purposes. First, it will provide safe, mud-free walking access to Iraivan. Second, it will make maintenance in and around the temple (such as landscaping and stone cleaning) more efficient for our electric vehicles. Third, it will provide an elegant circumambulation path for pilgrims and for the annual chariot parade which carries Satguru around the temple on Guru Purnima. Fourth, it is the last unfinished major component of the temple, tying together the mature and beautiful landscaping that took decades to create and the completed-three-years-ago granite Siva temple.
Before & After Slider
Below is a shot of the foundation pour in 1999 and almost the same angle photo of the completed temple. Slide back and forth to see the changes.
