KAPAA, HAWAII, August 19, 2007: (HPI note: This story is on our own monastery in Kauai.) The Hawaiian island of Kauai is known throughout the world for its great natural beauty. Tourists flock to its sunny beaches, rugged coastline and resort hotels. And this island paradise is familiar to many who have only watched the many Hollywood movies filmed on location there. But perhaps few visitors to Kauai know about one of its spiritual treasures. Located along the Wailua River on the island’s east coast is an important Hindu monastery on nearly 500 acres of lush rain forest. In 1990 this institution was established as home to around 20 monks from six nations. Its founder was the guru (spiritual leader) Gurudeva, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.
Visitors to the Kauai Hindu Monastery are able to enter the Kadavul Hindu Temple, guarded over by a 16-ton black granite statue of Nandi the bull. Inside the temple are statues of other Gods: the dancing Siva, the elephant Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya, the God of the spiritual discipline of yoga. Along the walls are another 108 statues of Siva. Several hundred yards farther along a winding, scenic path through an abundance of tropical flowers and trees stands the unfinished Iraivan Temple. Six stone carvers are engaged in putting together massive white blocks of granite which were rough-cut in Southern India and shipped here for finishing. These stonemasons use the ancient skills and tools traditional to their craft (except for a forklift, which they call “an American elephant”). Work began on this massive building in 1990; expected completion date is sometime in 2012. Crowning the 3,000 blocks of stone is a magnificent golden dome.
Besides guiding visitors through the monastery’s beautiful grounds with ponds, waterfalls, groves, and gardens, the monks are engaged in other tasks: Supervising the purchase, planting and care of tropical plants from around the world, creating and publishing “Hinduism Today,” a quarterly journal with 100,000 readers, broadcasting a daily news feed called Hindu Press International to writers around the word, publishing original books and translations about Hinduism, meditating, praying and engaging in other spiritual practices.