Andre joined the tour today with his camera… a view from a different angle.

This lovely carving stands at the entrance of Tiruneri, blessing visitors on the way in.

This is an excellent view of Rishi Valley. Some years ago Bodhinatha had a vision of this area being cleaned up and developed. We brought in the heavy equipment and removed the tangle of jungle protoplasm. Tandu Sivanathan then went to work to landscape the area, bringing in some bonzai from his collection. Now all the exposed earth has become covered with grass and flowers.

We have a few egrets who have made Kauai Aadheenam lands their home.

A lovely perspective of Iraivan. Kulapati Deva Seyon guides the pilgrims.

Deva tells the crowd about the Rudraksha.

For some reason today a lot of pilgrims were inspired to try to eat the blue rudraksha fruit.

While it is edible, many would consider the fruit far from palatable. There is only 1/8 inch of fruit on the seed and it is a bit bitter and quite astringent.

Still, Andre says he says some avid naturalists, with handfuls of rudraksha, munching on the fruit. Perhaps it has some magical properties that inspires ingestion by the untutored. Ayurveda says that what is bitter from some may be sweet for others.

A good over view of the Wailua Valley, mountain range and Iraivan in the distance, from the Media Studio.