< Back to Archive

Iraivan Temple Part 2

Author: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Description: Part 2 of Gurudeva's inspired talk about Lord Siva's island home temple.

Transcription:

We have here our Sivachariya, spoken about in the Vedas and Agamas. The line of Sivachariyas are Siva's personal priests and our silpis are Siva's personal Temple builders. We feel very fortunate that these two forces have come together here, on this beautiful island of Kauai.

People do not build temples, the Gods build the temple. From the Sivaloka, the Devaloka, the Antaraloka to this Bhuloka, the temple manifests within and finally is existing in the Bhuloka. People only help the process. Temples such as Iraivan are built on sacrifice, sadhana and tapas of the people that are allowed to participate.

When we were first in India generating the Iraivan temple, the Bank of India came and said, "We will give you a loan for a million dollars to build a temple." We thought, "This is too easy. This is not an office building, this is not an apartment house. This is a temple of Siva that has to be built with sacrifice." Six thousand devotees of Siva from thirty to forty countries have contributed and sacrificed to bring Iraivan temple to this stage of completion and is now being placed upon the foundation.

In the United States of America, people are always in a hurry. They want something to be finished almost before it started. People have asked, "Why is it taking so long?" There are temples in India that have taken three generations to build and finish.

We called Sambamurthi Sivachariya last night, to receive his blessings also for Iraivan temple and he said, "I am going to live to see this Kumbhabhishekam finally happen."

Scroll to Top