"The Vedas are full of verses which speak of the Divine within man, and therefore Hindu Dharma today implores us to let go of grudges, resentment and especially self-contempt...."

Gurudeva

Gurudeva Darshan of the Day

"... Most people today are working harder to correct the faults of others than they are their own. It is a thankless job. It truly is. Most are trying to recreate the relatively real world into being absolutely real. Another thankless job. The wise implore us to accept things as they are, to be happy and content at every point in time. They tell us: do not be discouraged in seeing the failings of others. Rather, let it help awaken your understanding of them as to where they are in consciousness and the suffering they must be going through. If others harm you in thought, word or deed, do not resent it. Rather, let it awaken compassion, kindness and forgiveness. Use it as a mirror to view your own frailties; then work diligently to bring your own thoughts, words and deeds into line with Hindu Dharma.

Gurudeva

Bodhinatha Meets Devotees in Malaysia

Though Labor Day holiday guest flow has been high in Kadavul Temple, it is otherwise quiet at the Aadheenam. The big news is in Malaysia with Bodhinatha.

With big events over, Bodhinatha opened his doors to let devotees come for darshan and today we bring you all the bright faces who came to see him on Monday morning and afternoon in Malaysia.

Here are Sivaneswaran and Venilla Sockanathan and their daughter Niranjana.

Sugumaran and several families of the former Brickfields and Kajan Church Missions, who are encouraging all the children to study the Master Course.

Master course student Viji Vasudevan (the young lady to the left of Bodhinatha), her father, three brothers, uncle, auntie and their two children.

Here we see him with the Sockanathan family and Annapurni and Nalagini.

Ravichandran Ceyon and his young friend from Johore.

Anbu Kandasamy and wife and mother-in-law

With Yoges and James.

Maha Lakshmi Genasegaran and son and daughter, Avinash and Ashvina.

Sashi Vadivale, member of youth committee of MCSA (Malaysian Ceylon Saivites Association; Sri Kandaswamy Kovil), after interviewing Bodhinatha for Yuvan  youth newsletter.

Swami Vijayendra Shankarananda from Johore, a disciple of Paramahamsa Shankarananda Guruji.

This morning Bodhinatha again held darshan for a number of families and individuals. Here is Gunasekharen Kandasamy.

Nandi Mandapam Concrete Pour Conclusion

Today we bring you the final episode from that momentous day, a week ago, of the giant cement pour for the Nandi Mandapam.

The plywood box at the center bottom of this photo is the place where the kodimaram will ultimately go, with Nandi kneeling just in front.

Saravananathaswami capturing the day, and being captured.

Concrete was pumped through the grey hose.

Deva Rajan observing every detail of the day's work.

Rolling the concrete flat, so it dries in firm layers.

Around 10:45am a tropical torrent fell from the until-then-sunny skies. The team rushed to cover it with plastic sheeting.

It's important to not let too much water dilute the cement at this critical stage, so we squeegee rain away from the forms.

Meanwhile, even as the teams work furiously nearby, the Indian sculptors continue their chipping on the roof.

Bailing water from the forms.

Here the team is getting ready for the power screed which will make the foundation perfectly flat.

Here our concrete engineers log in their findings. They took a test batch from each truck all day long.

Despite the rain, the work goes on....

The local paper, the Garden Island, arrives in the form of Dennis Fujimoto, their finest photographer, actually a true artist. Here he talks with Tandu to get some details of the day for the article that appeared on page one the following day.

That's the power screen on the right, and the finishing team moves in with their bull floats to give it a fine finish.

Watch the video conclusion below.


The Great Nandi Mandapam Cement Pour
Fourth and Final Episode

A nature walk at the Aadheenam

A view from atop Muruga Hill, with our cows' pastures in the distance.

The bamboo at the top is from China and is used for weaving baskets.

It's a dense one, giving shade to pilgrims.

A banana-like flower blooming in the garden on a giant plant.

It's called Ensete superba.

Wild!