Installing the Central Stone of the Temple Builders' Memorial

The bronze work that will immortalize Iraivan Temple's founder, architect and carvers is progressing, both in Hawaii and Colorado. On Kauai, the monks are working to prepare the final space that will hold the seven sculptures. The first step is to put in place a giant raw piece of granite in the charming space that has palm trees on the South and a large garden pond on the North. This stone is fresh from the quarry in India. Uncut and unfinished, it gives you a weighty example of the temple's origins, showing what a stone looks and feels like before the master craftsmen approach with their hammers and chisels. Speaking of weight, the stone weighs in at 18,500 pounds! As you can imagine, moving such a gargantuan piece of granite requires some special equipment. We hired a local crane operator, Larry Conklin, to help us. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami, Acharya Kumarnathaswami, Yogi Rajanatha and our hired worker Doug all spent several hours yesterday working together to move the stone a short distance into place. The two bronzes of Gurudeva and Ganapathi Sthapathi will stand atop this central stone with the smaller pieces on all sides.

Paramacharya, Larry and Doug strategize a method to strap and lift the block

This rounded area (marked by red paint) is the 24-foot by 34-foot elliptical foundation on which the various masterworks will go

The granite block will be set a foot into the ground and will be surrounded by the bronze sculptures depicting how the temple was constructed. Pilgrims of the future will hardly believe how it happened.

The 18,500 pound giant sits on a wooden pallet and waits to be moved. You can see the drilled holes that were made to bring the rock out of the mountain, all done by hand.

Stage one involves lifting the block up in order to cut and remove the wooden pallet

This will be the base for the bronze sign which will have 15,000 names of Iraivan Temple\

s global donors'

Before lifting anything, the crane has to lower its massive outrigger supports

These keep it completely stable while working

The first move is successful, placing the stone a little closer to its final resting place. It is too heavy to move that far in one motion.

Doug gets atop the stone, ready to attach the crane harness

A perfect opportunity for a photo. He knows he is part of history.

Here we go!

You know your in Hawaii when crane operators have rainbow umbrellas to hold back the tropical sun.

Safety is a big priority when moving something like this. even if it\

s just traveling a few feet'

Success! Tatastu.

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