New Garden for Siva

Siva will have a new desert garden in the months ahead. It is a 60-foot six-sided star and it will be planted with cacti, succulents and all manner of arid plants. The Shadkonam is an ancient Hindu sacred symbol, the intertwining of Siva and Shakti. It is also the symbol for air and Vayu, the God of Air. Vayu rules the Northwest corner of any vastu space, so of course He has a presence here. The slideshow tells the unfolding story of the Shadkonam Garden in the Northwest corner of Iraivan Temple.

The star points perfectly to the golden tower of Iraivan.

It will be one of the little delights for future pilgrims, and is in one of the sunniest spots.

Shadkonam is the Sanskrit word for six-pointed star. The yellow in this sketch will be the walking paths. In between will be rocks and desert plants of many shapes and species.

Looking from Iraivan we see Dennis Wong laying the first layer of gravel.

He is a master at this kind of land forming.

The gravel will be 8 inches thick and provide a first layer of defense against our 95 inches of rain. Drainage is so important if we hope to provide a home to desert plants that drown easily.

Doug Noogle lays out the main shape following survey points done by Yoginathaswami.

He added the interior shapes and a layer of sand where the foot paths will go. We imagine helicopter pilgrims looking down and wondering what they are looking at.

When complete, it will look a bit like the Desert Garden around the Media Studio.

Yesterday Doug added rebar in preparation for the concrete.

Everywhere where you see grey gravel here will be filled with plants and a few boulders.

Once the paths are poured, sand and cinder will be provided for the plants and these 6-inch stones will fill the spaces between them.

}

];