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2025 Krittika Deepam at Iraivan Temple

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A few days ago we celebrated the new annual Krittika Dipam lamp lighting and bonfire. It began with the normal monthly Krittika homa in the morning. The regular afternoon 4pm puja then took on magical hues as various extra deepas were lit within and just outside the mukha mandapam. Rows of electric lights were hung around the temple to provide soft illumination as late afternoon gave way to early dusk and then nighttime. After the puja, we paraded around the mukha mandapam and maha mandapam, lead by Satguru carrying a large deepam which was then used to light our simple bonfire out front made of dry palm fronds. It burned up very quickly, perhaps in a minute or less. Ash was then passed around to place on our third eye, followed by final aratis and prasadam inside the temple.

An AI overview describes Krittika Deepam thusly:

“Krittika Deepam (or Karthigai Deepam) celebrates the divine light of Lord Shiva, symbolizing the triumph of spiritual knowledge over ignorance, marked by lighting clay lamps to dispel darkness, invoke prosperity, and honor Lord Murugan (Kartikeya) and the Krittika (Pleiades) stars that nurtured him. It signifies enlightenment, divine union (Shiva-Parvati), and removing ego, culminating in a massive bonfire (Mahadeepam) at Tiruvannamalai, representing Shiva’s infinite flame. 

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October Milling Project

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  • We mill various board widths to suit different future uses and to maximize the wood’s quality. This stack is nearly complete. Once the last layers are added, it will be covered with a sheet of metal roofing weighted with four concrete blocks to shield the lumber from sun and rain. In about a year the wood will be ready to use.

  • Cutting a camphor beam originally milled in 2013. Once all horizontal kerfs are complete, the entire stack is rotated 90 degrees and recut at 1 1/4 inches to produce ten-foot-long sticks.

  • About a hundred finished camphor sticks are stacked in a jig designed for quickly cutting them to 30-inch lengths with the battery-powered chainsaw.

  • Aditya unloads the freshly cut stickers from the jig

  • Storing the stickers in our rustic sticker shed. Later we will organize the stacks neatly and paint the sticker ends red for weather protection. This aged wood is dry and ideal for preventing fungus transfer to new lumber.

  • Acharya completes a long rip down the side of one of the large rainbow eucalyptus logs, just under our mill’s 25-inch capacity. Each of the biggest logs required two such faces: one for the mill bed and one to stand upright against the mill’s left side.

  • Acharya marks his cuts with a wax pencil and straightedge. He sights carefully down the chainsaw bar to keep the rip straight.

  • Acharya using the Echo 7310CS chainsaw for the rip cuts.

  • Time to load a log onto the mill.

  • Years ago we laid eight inches of gravel and stone in front of the mill to create a durable work surface for the skid steer and milling operations.

  • Aditya takes a turn at running the mill. The saw head moves by hand as the horizontal bandsaw slices through the log at the set height. Sawdust ejects to the operator’s left, strategically downwind.

  • Acharya cutting a prime 2-inch plank. Finished boards are already accumulating on the utility vehicle nearby.

  • After sharpening saw blades, preparing foundations, sorting supplies, cutting stickers and trimming logs, this is the rewarding moment: seeing beautiful lumber emerge board by board.

  • Prime rainbow eucalyptus lumber for a future woodworking project.

  • Starting a fresh log. It has been trimmed to width and cleaned of loose bark and soil before milling.

  • Aditya places finished boards onto the designated lumber stands. Behind him is a previous completed pile. Stickers are placed 16 inches apart to ensure proper airflow through each layer.

  • This is the yeild from three shorter logs, 23” in diameter.

  • Two of three long new stacks with an old stack of camphor slabs in the background.

From September 25 to October 21, Aditya Vinadhara joined our task force and teamed up with Acharya Kumarnathaswami for a lumber adventure worthy of its own mini documentary. Seven massive rainbow eucalyptus logs—gifted by a kind neighbor across the highway—became the project of the month. The photos capture it all, from cutting hundreds of stickers for perfect airflow to trimming the giant logs, milling beautiful planks and finally stacking everything into tidy piles to sun-kissed perfection in Hawaii’s balmy climate.

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Interfaith Harmony

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  • The Sri Lankan monks enter our meditation temple
  • A happy exchange between Hindus and the majority Buddhists of the country.
  • All sit for a quiet inner moment.
  • Earlier they visited Yogaswami’s hut
  • The monks’ colors, saffron and burgundy, denote their different sects.

We have been sharing Saint Tayumanavar’s wonderful teaching of samarasam—the unitive amity between religions. The idea of such shared respect is no less relevant to our 21st century experience than to his time, some 300 years ago.

A real-life example took place a few days back at the Sri Subramuniya Temple in Sri Lanka. Here is the report from Rishi Thondunathan (who this morning is hunkered down in Colombo due to a massive cyclone passing over the island).

“Greetings! On Friday, a group of 120 Buddhist monks and devotees from Kandy visited the Yogaswami Samadhi Temple and our Sri Subramuniya Temple in Alaveddy. They shared that they had read about Yogaswami’s life and teachings in various books, and were deeply moved by his simplicity and the profound wisdom reflected in his words and way of life. This inspiration led them to visit the sacred places where the sage lived. They had already downloaded the English Natchintanai from the Himalayan Academy publication website, and they have translated the song “Engal Gurunathan” into Sinhala. They attended the pūja and then eagerly listened to the story of Yogaswami’s life.”

In Peace,

Rishi Thondunathan 

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Light and Leaves in the Monastery Gardens

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  • Our morning light never ceases to be stunning
  • Iraivan glistens through the brush
  • Lord Muruga shines in His own way
  • One of the many scenes found in our Chola Gardens
  • A place not oft seen. Winding stream waters make their way below papayas, bananas and breadfruit trees
  • Palms as far as the eye can see
  • Look close and you might find interesting things. This is an egg-casing from a praying mantis.
  • Happy Kavi cat, reminds us to keep it simple
  • At night we roll past our galactic center
  • A baby bullfrog floats on his raft
  • “That is the goal of life, to know Siva, to love Siva and to find union in Him, to dance with Siva, live with Siva and merge with Siva.” – Gurudeva

Aum Namah Sivaya


This week brought a few quiet moments to step outside and enjoy the land. The gardens and surrounding jungles offered small scenes of beauty. Soft light on new leaves, the play of shadows along the paths, and the stillness that gathers between passing showers. We captured a handful of simple photos to share, reflections of the peaceful rhythm that moves through the Aadheenam each day.

“This inner light is so beautiful. All day long my head has been filled with light. It feels that if I were to reach up and put both hands around the top of my head, there wouldn’t be a head there.” – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

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Sivacharyar at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery

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  • Swaminatha Sivacharyar (second from left) and Viswanatha Sivacharyar (third from left)

Jai Ganesha!

Few days ago, Viswanatha Sivacharyar and Swaminatha Sivacharyar visited our monastery. Swaminatha Sivacharyar is the founder of Sivapuram Patasala in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Viswanatha Sivacharyar recently had kumbhabhishekam for his new Ganesha Temple at San Ramon, California. And Satguru and Yoginathaswami went for the kumbhabhishekam. They had a wonderful time visiting the monastery and had meetings with Satguru and monks.

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Fire Mountain, Rain Mountain: Waialeale

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Mount Waialeale is one of Kauai’s greatest natural marvels, rising from the island’s emerald heart (more technically the island rises from its heart) and cloaked in near-constant mist. Its name means “rippling waters” or “overflowing water,” a reference to the countless waterfalls and ancient bogs that spill from its summit. Known as one of the wettest spots on Earth, Waialeale is revered in Hawaiian culture as a sacred wao akua, a realm of the gods, where clouds gather, nourish the land, and sustain life downstream. Its blue-green cliffs and perpetual rain have long inspired respect, marking the mountain as a living temple of water, fertility and spiritual presence at the center of the island.

We live with it daily and watch it change from hour to hour as the clouds come and go, as the setting sun sets it on fire. Gurudeva envisioned a futuristic coffee table book which would show all of its moods, and we share a few of those in today’s TAKA, taken by various monks over the years.

In December of 1968 Gurudeva brought 32 Innersearchers to Kauai and on the second day we hired Larry rivera, the island’s legendary singer/composer, to regale us all with his song about Waialeale. Larry warned us, as we gathered around what is now the temple pool, that the song makes it rain more often than not. We nodded politely, and asked him to continue. It rained before he ended!

Want to hear him sing it right now? Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0voBezB05cw

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