Blog Archives

Today Bodhinatha went to a short meeting of the Kauai Action and Planning Alliance...

The Ekadanta Kulam gave news at lunch.

Saravananathaswami shared the progress of two young men who will be coming to the Aadheenam later this year.

Sadhaka Dandapani has been working on Innersearch follow up. Our new resident Aspirant Satya Subramaniam, is serving this phase in the Ekadanta Kulam and has been helping with data entry, editing audio files for sending out to the Innersearchers, sorting a backlog of mail and generally helping the team of two catch up....

Today our island resident (originally from Tuticorin, India) Vaidehi Ganeshan came to help with the Tamil in one of our books.

Arumugaswami and she are making corrections to the Book 3 Saivite Hinduism Children's Course, following some proofing that was done in Malaysia recently.

The new edition, in full color this time, is nearing completion. Thank you, Vaidehi! And thanks to Kulapati Appasamy Kuppusamy (Tamil translator) and his daughter Usha Rani (for the Malay translation) for all the original translation work.

After many a long day of tropical rains, the skies were gentle today and we even saw some blue above our extinct volcano.

The silpis are working inside the smaller gopurams today.

This is a still photo, but in the video below you can see this craftsman at work and hear the dulcet tones of his bamboo-handled mallot as it strikes the steel chisel. You can see this process in the short video below. Notice how he works the flattened chisel back and forth as he taps with the mallot, slowly reducing the rough surface to an almost polished one. Click the controller to start the video. The first frame is pure white light (smile, we are working on that one.) On this video you will also be taken on an extraordinary, first-time-ever adventure, as our intrepid photographer, camera in one hand and steering wheel in the other, dangerously circumnavigates the Iraivan Temple. You see Iraivan from all sides in this video, which may also be seen on the upcoming Academy Awards for Documentary: Best Hawaiian Short Film-Navigation of Iraivan Temple. Just click on the obscure navigation bar below.

The cloth protects him from the Hawaiian sun.

Nearby three carvers work on small stones that are "keys" tying the roof beams to the tower.

Measuring for the next chipping session.

Silpi Chelliah works with the special chisels that smooth the stone. They are like the sandpaper one uses to give a finish to woodwork.

Nandi is enjoying a beautiful fern garland in a photo taken a few days back by Deva Seyon.

He also captured Gurudeva's golden murti on Sivaratri Night.

Sri Shanthi Lingam Temple

The Shanthi Lingam Temple is an outgrowth of the Sri Subramuniya Kottam. It was established over 23 years ago through the efforts of the youth who were studying at the Kottam with Gurudeva's blessings. The temple's main structure,the sanctum that houses the Siva Lingam, was built out of the dedication, love and sweat of the youth of this community. In fact, it was erected almost entirely by the young students at the Kottam. Only one professional mason was hired. He oversaw the work of the youth as they cemented the temple brick by brick with their young hands. So impressed was Gurudeva, by the dedication of the youth that on January 5th 1983, Gurudeva's 56th birthday, he personally came to place the Shanthi Lingam (the temple deity) in the temple with his own hands. Since the temple's founding, it has been continuously serving the devotees in Jaffna through all of the trials and tribulations that the island has gone through. Through Gurudeva's grace, the temple continues to exist and be of service to this day. People who come and worship there are constantly reminded of Gurudeva, by the very fact that he brought the Siva Lingam from Kauai Aadheenam and ceremoniously placed it in the sanctum. The Shanthi Lingam Temple provides daily prayers for devotees. Yearly festivals such as Sivaratri, Thaipusam, Thaiponggal, Tamil New Year, Thiruvembavai, Sivalayadeepam are held at the Temple.

Last year the Shanthi Lingam Temple Building Fund was created to repair some damage that the temple sustained during the war and to replace an aging roof structure over the main hall of the temple. A professional construction firm in Jaffna, Manoharan and Vettivel, was hired to replace the roof over the temple mandapam and repair other damages. With the first donation toward the fund provided by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, the reconstruction commenced with the stone-laying ceremony on April 10, 2005.

Currently, the new temple mandapam or main hall has been successfully completed. The Sri Subramuniya Kottam would like to thank the Kottam's world-wide supporters for their kind and generous contribution that has brought the Shanthi Lingam Temple to its current, majestic state. These are pictures of the new structures and look of the temple. For your information, the original Sanctum structure put up by the youth of the Kottam 23 years ago still remains as it is. However, it does have a new coat of paint.

We take you now to Gurudeva's Spiritual Park in the country of Mauritius, off the coast of South Aftica. The February 2006 Ganesha homa may have been, according to many observers, the largest Ganesha Homa in terms of attendance since homas were begun at the Spiritual Park. Lord Pancha Mukha Ganapati looked splendid and deeply inspiring on that Sunday morning.

The ceremony starts with the usual devotional songs dedicated to Lord Ganesha.

Four kulapaties sat around the Homa. As stewards of the Spiritual Park, the kulapaties met at a Council of Ministers meeting earlier that day to submit their ideas and plans regarding the Spiritual Park to Satguru Bodhinatha.

Kulapati Siven Koothan officiates at the Homa ceremony.

As the inside of the Mandapam was packed to capacity with the lucky devotees who came earlier to find a seat, most of the devotees were accommodated in the shady areas outside.

Others were in the mango grove.....

Every month hundreds of chairs are rented to accommodate comfortably the devotees attending the Ganesha Homa. The Spiritual Park is working on a fund raising project to purchase its own chairs in the future.

Another group seated close to the Mandapam...

Several devotees came forward to give spontaneous, uplifting testimonies. Here is one lady explaining how Lord Ganapati helped her elderly sick mother recover ,despite the fact that doctors had little hope about her getting cured.

After the testimony session, coordinated by kulapati Manick, it is time for some spiritual explanation on some specific topic, usually a message from Bodhinatha. Here Kulapati Siven Koothan is explaining about anger management, taking his discourse from the insight section in Hinduism Today.

A large framed photo of Satguru Bodhinatha is nicely placed on one of the pillars of the Mandapam.

Every month volunteers from among the general public attending the Homa sponsor lunch after the ceremony. All enjoy a free, veggie meal as part of their morning spiritual outing.

Here is Nishi, an enrolled MC student (centre) just arrived from Canada, now newly engaged to a barrister in Mauritius. Earlier she gave a testimony about how she had been burning prayers to find the right young man to share her life.

Kulapati SK Moorghen is counting the donations from the Hundi. Every Sunday after the ceremomy and after the clean up, all donations from the Hundi and donation plate are carefully counted and deposited at the bank. These gifts are decicated to helping maintain the Spiritual Park in good condition.

Kumaren Mooroven, our dedicated sound system operator who, every month, with the help of Paramasiven Canagasaby and Somandiren Peruman sets up the sound system at the Ganesha Mandapam. Thank you, Kumaren.