Bodhinatha arrives at the Edmonton Temple

Bodhinatha arrives. The trees in the background give some idea of the unruly weather with high winds and heavy rain.

The lead priest, P. Shanmugeswara Kurukkal, offers vibuthi to Bodhinatha. Kurrukal flew in from Colombo, Sri Lanka just for this occasion.

Bodhinatha is led around the temple. Far left is Subramaniya Kurukkal, who has recently retired and was the beloved priest of the temple for many many years. Viswanatha Kamalanatha Kurukkal (right) and Karthikeya Ragavan Iyer, on either side of Bodhinatha, are the current temple priests.

Bodhinatha oils the small Ganesha that was first gifted to the Temple society so very long ago by Gurudeva Sivaya Subramuniyaswami to begin the worship.

Oiling the main Diety.

Because the power has been removed from the diety, they are allowed to be photographed. However the Kumbhas containing the power are not allowed to be photographed.

Generally, Mahakumbabhishekam takes place every twelve years and is a time of renewal for the temple. It is also a time of repairs and construction. This time, the flagpole, the Dwajastamba, seen just above Bodhinatha, was added to the temple

Satguru Bodhinatha finishes the visit with a talk to temple devotees on "Why we need the Temple."

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Mahakumbabhishekam is a magical and special time for a temple. With a special skill and power that only they know and understand, the priests remove the power from the Dieties of the temple and transfer it to special sanctified brass pots. What has been a vibrant and powerful, almost living, entity, now becomes an empty hall. This is the only time that all the devotees are allowed inside the sanctums to touch and oil the Dieties.

Soon after Bodhinatha arrived at the Maha Ganapathy Temple in Edmonton, he was escorted around the temple to oil each of the dieties. Thanks to Sutha Suthakar for these professional pictures of Bodhinatha's first day.