As it has around the world, the annual day arrived to celebrate Lord Ganesha's sweetness with pomp in Kadavul Temple.

Because our puja was early, at 6am, Iraivan Temple's priest Pravin Kumar was able to attend and also offer some chants and songs at toward the end. He wanted a few photos of himself to share with family, so you'll see those in this collection.

The puja livestream--

Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!

Early this morning the aadheenam celebrated Guru Purnima with a 6:00am parade to Iraivan Temple, followed by a pada puja honoring Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and the entire Guru Parampara. To begin the day, monks and devotees paraded Satguru's chariot down Siva Saalai—the concrete road leading down to the temple. Upon arrival, Pravinkumar welcomed Satguru with and arati and the whole group continued inside the temple for a padapuja at the northeast corner of the temple. Yogi Dayanatha and Sannyasin Siddhanathaswami performed the puja as Satguru entered deep meditation. Afterwards, Satguru gave vibhuti blessings to all present. Aum Namah Shivaya.

From the Kularnava Tantra:

And Lord Siva said: How can My subtle perfection, which is one, omnipresent, attributeless, indifferent, undecaying, unattached like space, unbeginning and unending, be an object of worship for the dualistic mind? Hence it is that I as the Supreme Guru have entered into the bodies of human Satgurus.
Even My gross aspect, being full of light and energy, is imperceptible to human eyes. For this reason I have assumed the form of the Satguru in the world, and thus protect the race of sishyas.
As Mahesvara, in human body I secretly wander on the Earth in order to favor sishyas. As Sadasiva, I assume the modest and merciful form for the protection of sadhakas. Though remaining above samsara, yet I appear and act in this world as though I were a man of samsara.
When the fruits of sin predominate, Satguru is seen as a person. And when the fruits of virtuous acts prevail, Satguru is seen as Siva. Like blind men deprived forever of seeing the sun, unfortunate jivas are unable to see the real Satguru, the embodiment of Mahesvara, though He is present before their eyes. It is undoubtedly true that Satguru is Deva Sadasiva Himself, for who is it that grants Liberation to seekers if Satguru be not Siva Himself?
O Beloved, there is not the least difference between Deva Sadasiva and Sriguru. Whoever makes a distinction between them commits a sin. For by assuming the form of a preceptor, the Gurudeva severs the multitude of bonds which bind jivas to the state of pasu and enables them to attain the Self, Parasivam.

Kauai Aadheenam's 2023 observance of Vaikasi Visakam—an important annual festival to Murugan, Lord of Yoga.

Jai Ganesha!
Jai Kailasa Parampara!
Jai Gurudeva!
Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!
Om Namah Shivaya!

Today our Mandala puja events concluded. This morning began at 6am with the sankalpam and a Ganesha Puja. Again the homas were kindled and the Deities invoked at the yagasala. This included a Panchakshara and Pancha Brahma Homa. As the final event, the mathavasis passed 1008 kumbhas into the shrine to be poured over Mahalingeshwara. More images and video of the events to come over the next week.

"We never outgrow temple worship. It simply becomes more profound and meaningful as we progress through four spiritual levels." - Gurudeva

Here are photos of the next set of pujas. Yesterday afternoon was the first kala homas in the yagasala. Five different shapes of homa kundas were operating simultaneously, each representing one of Sadasiva's faces-- Isana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadjyotata.

Surrounding the large middle kumbha are 108 little conches in preparation for Sangu abhishekam.

Silpis were honored at the end of the evening with shawls commemorating the event.

This morning we began at 8am in Kadavul Temple with the priests performing the Bhutashuddhi ritual-- self-purification and "becoming Siva", as it were. This was the first time for many of the priests to visit Kadavul Temple, an important moment.

After that we paraded out to Iraivan Temple, and began blessing the 1008 small kumbhas placed in clusters around the sides. During this time, Satguru was honored with another shawl, and then he honored chief priest Kumar Gurukal with a shawl and rudraksha mala. The priests thanked Satguru for his support of the United States Sivacharyars Association since they launched in 2016.

After that we experienced a marathon of chanting Sri Rudram eleven times. The priests chanted very fast, and anyone else who chants Rudram tried to join and keep up! We then proceeded back to the yagasala for the second kala homas.

Led by Kumar Gurukal, nine Sivacharya priests arrived yesterday and today, bringing the total to eleven who are now performing the last of the 45-day Mandala Pujas post installation of the sphatika Mahalingeswara. Of the priests is Anand Sivacharya who officiates at the Concord, California Murugan Temple that we used to own and run. He has wanted to come here for so long, never having visited before.

They began yesterday afternoon, May 8th, with a beautiful Ganesha puja and homa, replete with vigorous chanting.

This morning, May 9th, consisted of the Vastu Shanti pujas to purify all the spaces. It included Panchakavya puja which honors all the substances produced by the cow, and a Bhumi puja which was performed in front of Dakshinamurti and honors Mother Earth.
While all this was happening, many of the devotees were helping with a huge task of preparing 1008 kumbhas to be offered in abhishekam on the final morning, May 11th. We couldn't husk that many coconuts, so we are using oranges instead.

This group of priests have formed the "United States Sivachariyars Association" and created a printed shawl to honor their coming here to perform Mandalabhishekam.

We have just six days before the final Iraivan Temple Mandala Pujas are performed by Kumar Gurukal and many accompanying priests. In the first two photos, Sivanadiyar Vatshalan and Malaysian taskforcer Sivajnani Nagappan work together on setup of the yagasala and audience tent.

Aum Namah Sivaya

We hope you enjoy these belated photos from the March Iraivan Event! As you can imagine we have a large amount of photos from the crystal installation. This collection is from Rajkumar Manickam. The live stream videos of the event can be seen on our youtube channel, but this is the first large batch of still photos we've released.

We're thankful to have had such a successful and historical event take place with the aid of the Shivacharya community and with help from many volunteers.

"Through temple worship, the three worlds become open to one another, and the beings within them are able to communicate. By means of the mystical arts of puja, the worlds act in concert, and prayers are received." - Gurudeva

Jai Gurudeva!
Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!
Jai Kailasa Parampara!

After husking around 330 cocos for the Iraivan Pranapratishtha last month, the husking party took a break, but now we're back to husk another 250 or so for the final days of Mandala Puja from May 8--11.

For 48 days after a prana pratishtha, "Mandala Pujas" are performed to stabilize the newly created vibration. The final three days worth of pujas from May 8th afternoon through May 11th morning are more elaborate and preparations are in full swing for them. Ten priests will be here to perform them. New homa kundas are needed for those pujas, and a retired plaster specialist was sponsored to fly to Kauai and guide the process. He and our resident silpis are creating five new homa pits, each in a different shape and having a naga serpent slithering up the side, the head of which serves to hold the ghee container!