This is Day 3 of the New Mahalingesvara Era. Everything is changed, only the Self beyond the Beyond remains unchanged, it seems. We wish to honor the Sivacharyars who performed their magic to install Mahalingesvara at Iraivan Temple. We asked Vivek Sivacharyar how many mantras he intoned during the 45 days of Mandala Puja and he said, "One lak, 20 thousand." That's 120,000 mantras. He added that that meny again were intoned by the Sivacharyars in March and again in May! The monks press their palms together to honor this noble clan.

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.

A short clip of the Mandala Puja events taking place this week at Iriavan Temple. This is the yagasala where five special homa kundas are kindled as per Agamaic tradition.

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.

The priests arrive today, nine in all, to conduct the final four days of holy homas and pujas to complete Iraivan's historic Pranapratishta consecration. Many are the items needed to conduct the elaborate rituals. These are being assembled in the yagasala today, and we give you a glimpse.We asked our Vivek Sivacharyar how many mantras he has chanted in the last 40 days and he said 120,000.

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.

Longtime sishya, Sivajnani Nagappan, is serving in the monastery's Siddhidata Kulam on our resident taskforce program for a few weeks. The timing works out well for him to especially help preparations for the Iraivan Temple final Mandala Pujas from May 8-11. Sivajnani has never husked a coconut before, so we gave him the opportunity to learn and husk one of the 250+- cocos that will be used during the upcoming pujas.

For many years, perhaps 25, we have been growing mondo grass to one day be planted around Iraivan Temple. That day is here, and there is a team of island members who have determined to hand-plant an enormous amount. They have started the arduous project. When done, this will be a lush green sea. This grass, which technically is a Japanese lily, has the look of ocean waves when the tropical winds blow, giving a swaying look to the landscape. It will look, ultimately, like the temple is floating in a serene green ocean. The entire project will take months, but we are in no hurry. One of the unexpected boons is that the Sivathondars are able to hear the priests chanting nearby, so Sanskrit mantras fill the air each day. Aum Namasivaya!

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!