While Iraivan Temple was concluding its kumbhabhishekam events, another auspicious installation was happening in northern Sri Lanka. The recently completed Subramuniya Mandapam in Alaveddy received its kumbhabhishekam, performed by Sri Prasanna Kurukkal from Nallur Temple.

Gurudeva lived on this land when it was the home of a Yogaswami devotee. The home was later removed and a small Siva Temple built. The lingam from that temple is now the center murti of the Subramuniya Mandapam. So the land has gone from a devotee’s home, to a Siva shrine, to a meditation pavilion holding the murtis of four of our historical satgurus.

For background, here are the recollections of Kandiah Chettiar’s daughter-in-law: “When my father-in-law—who was staying with Robert at the Colombo YMCA and was impressed with his steady morning devotions—wrote home to inform the family that he would be bringing a young American to our home, all were horrified. The home was too humble. To prepare for the guest, we decided that the family would move out of the house and give it entirely to Robert for his stay.

“Upon his arrival we were astonished to see his great height. He was so tall he couldn’t stand upright except in the very center of the house! After some hours, he was very close with us—like a brother to my husband. That evening my father-in-law took him to the Ganesha Temple. The priest asked his name, and my father-in-law said, ‘Thamby. We just call him Thamby [“young one”].’ He made everyone so comfortable, like part of the family; we all stayed in the house.”

Several days ago Satguru, the mathavasis and local members gathered together in Kadavul Temple for our monthly padapuja to Gurudeva's shrine during the Chitra Nakshatra. Jai Gurudeva!

"The Truth is deeper and is discovered by the resolute devotee who dedicates his life to the search, who lives a balanced life according to the yamas and niyamas, the Vedic spiritual laws, who willingly undergoes change, who finds and obeys a spiritual teacher, or satguru, and who learns precisely the disciplined art of meditation. This, then, outlines the destination of the meditator's journey and his means of travel." Gurudeva

Compilation by By Rajkumar Manickam

During the 2022 Maha Samadhi Celebrations for Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Kumar Gurukkal performed the official installation of a black granite statue of Gurudeva. The statue had been shipped to the Aadheenam from India with the final batch of stones for Iraivan Temple. During the Mahasamadhi events, monks and pilgrims paraded the murti to the monastery entrance area for installation. This area is becoming more and more of a spiritual park, housing small shrines and murtis that visitors can view and enjoy during our closed hours. You can see the parade in slide 38 of this post. Gurudeva was in need of a shrine, so one of our monks was given the task of building this wooden roof for him. Aum.

Aum! Please enjoy these photos from the first Chitra Nakshatra padapuja to Gurudeva this year! Aum Namah Sivaya!

Jai Gurudeva!

During yesterday's chitra nakshatra, we observed our monthly padapuja to Gurudeva Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Monks and local members gathered in Kadavul Temple at 6:00am for the puja which was performed by Yogi Dayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha. Aum.

Aloha all, Please enjoy this Gurudeva mediation we recently removed some of the painful-to-listen to background sound from using the Audacity audio editing software. Short Meditation from 1996 Aum Namah Sivaya!

Jai Gurudeva!

This morning our monks and local shishya celebrated the Chitra nakshatra with their monthly observance in Kadavul Temple. Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Yogi Haranandinatha performed an abhiskekam at Gurudeva's shrine, while other monks chanted Sri Rudram. Aum

"It is not a matter of becoming the Self, but of realizing that you never were not the Self. And what is that Self? It is Parasiva. It is God. It is That which is beyond the mind, beyond thought, feeling and emotion, beyond time, form and space." - Gurudeva

Jai Gurudeva!

We hope you enjoy this large collection of slightly belated photos from Kauai Aadheenam's recent Mahasamadhi Celebrations. On the second to last day of the festivities, pilgrims spent time at Iraivan Temple, learning about the project from Yoginathswami. Later they worked to set up for the next day's final event along with the installation of a stone stand for the installation of a granite murti of Gurudeva near the monastery entrance. On the final day, pilgrims had a class with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. Following class everyone paraded to Kadavul Temple and then to the entrance area with the granite statue of Gurudeva. Gurukkal performed the installation puja. That afternoon was the final homa. The kumbha, blessed with divine energies from the homa, was then paraded to Gurudeva's shrine in Kadavul Temple for the final abhishekam. Aum.

Jai Gurudeva! Following four days of events and classes at Kauai Aadheenam for our visiting pilgrims, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, the monks and devotees all gather together for a homa and then a final abhishekam to Gurudeva to conclude our 2022 Mahasamadhi festivities. Kumar Gurukkal performes the ceremony with the help from the monks and Satguru. "The Self God is within all of this. It is beyond all bodies. It is beyond all form. It is beyond all intellect, beyond time, beyond space. That is the big realization on this planet, the thing that should be yearned for, sought for; all desires should be pointed in that direction. And then, once realized, you live out the life of the physical body and do what you can do in service to your fellow man, who is also coming along the same path that you have walked on before. All knowing also is right within you." - Gurudeva