Kauai Aadheenam

A New Day After Hurricane Lowell

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Jai Ganesha!

Firstly we’d like to mention that, following our very-recent storm, our monks are all doing well. Last night’s Hurricane Lowell was at peak intensity around midnight as it passed by our island, delivering ~80-90 mile-an-hour winds or more. Ever since Hurricane Iniki leveled the whole island in the 90’s, the monastery has taken disaster preparedness very seriously, and we were quite well prepared for this storm. For example, all of our buildings have quickly deployable metal hurricane shutters on doors and widows. Last night, in between moments of sleep, the large and loud wind gusts could be heard, flying debris through the air, all with the sound of a falling tree every 10-20 minutes.

This morning we awoke to a stunning sunrise, accented by the extra light now filtering through our many de-leaved trees. The first order of business was damage assessment. The Aadheenam’s buildings were for the most part completely unharmed. The winds were strong enough, however, to fully uproot many huge trees. Nearly every road around the aadheenam acreage had been blocked. The whole island is temporarily without power, but the monastery has a big generator and our fiber internet connection remains unbroken. The island’s utility water is also out, but again we are well prepared while county teams work tirelessly to bring everything back online. The day has been spent making sure our basic utilities are up and running, as well as chainsawing trees, clearing our vital roadways and removing debris.

Aum Namah Sivaya

  • A stunning sunrise after a stormy night
  • These palm trees didn’t fare too well
  • the grounds are completely covered in leaves, twigs and branches
  • The Nene (Hawaiian geese) fly overhead. They’re happy the storm is over.
  • Monks mobilize and begin working on whatever needs doing.
  • The rivers surges all day long, long after the rains have stopped
  • This tree had long hung over the pond. It finally fell in.
  • monks enjoy a morning rainbow that is being turned pink by the sunrise
  • As you can see, no tree escaped at least some form of damage
  • Uprooted bamboo near the rudraksha forest
  • Iraivan Temple looks like nothing happened. Stone construction has its perks.

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Temple Kitchen Game

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Jai Ganesha!

Time to try your hand at keeping a busy temple kitchen serving prasadam during daily activities!
This little browser game was built by ai with instructions from our monks (so if you see any errors, blame the ai 🤔)

Start by selecting level 1.

To move use the WASD or Arrow keys. use space bar to pickup and drop-off ingredients or serving dishes.
(tip: you can carry up to two of any item at a time—useful if the incoming orders are stacking up quickly. Also, be careful about picking up the wrong ingredients, there’s a trashcan if you need it)

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Clips from Guru Purnima 2026

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A short video created by Rajkumar Manickam

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Kolam Game

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Aum Namah Shivaya!

We thought you might enjoy something fun today. Here is a kolam puzzle game where you have to correctly trace the kolams into completion. Hopefully you’ll find it both challenging and entertaining!

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A Digital Solar System

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https://www.himalayanacademy.com/planets

Aum Namah Śivaya

We’ve recently built this free Vedic astrology tool that runs in your browser. You can open the live solar system and click on any planet, sign, or lunar mansion to read about it. You can also set the time manually to see what the planets will be doing at any given time. On the solar system page you can select your rising sign (which you can calculate on the birth chart page if you’d like), so if you click on a house, nakshatra, or a planet, it will give information adjusted for your chart. There’s also a “Find Events” button which will show major celestial moments for a given year—if you click on one it will reorient the solar system to that very moment. On the Birth Chart page you can enter your birth details and receive a full chart with your planetary placements, your janma nakṣatra, your Vimshottari daśā timeline, and a long-form classical interpretation of every planet’s position written in plain English—which you can save or download as a PDF. There’s also a Saṅkalpa drawn live from Kauai Aadheenam’s pañchāṅga service for those who need it for a puja.

Please note that—while this is a rather technically advanced tool—it’s best not to rely on it for anything more than a fun and a simple education in Jyotish (as in, please don’t use it to make major life decisions). The deeper purpose to reading the stars isn’t really about prediction. You are ultimately one with Śiva and the whole Universe. Thus the planets aren’t external powers acting upon you, but rather outward reflections of motions already moving within you. The Sun above mirroring your soul’s light, the Moon your receptive mind, Rahu indicating the karma that draws you in this life, Saturn’s slow turn is the patient labor of your own discipline, Mars the spark of your boldness, and Jupiter your expanding blessings.

These planetary positions come from Swiss Ephemeris—the same engine that powers Drik Panchang, Jagannath Hora, and every serious Vedic tool—sub-arcsecond accurate, defaulting to Lahiri ayanamsa. For the full daily pañchāṅga and Saṅkalpa for your location, please use the printable Mini Mela Pañchāṅga.

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