His Holiness Bodhinatha Veylanswami, 163rd Head of the Nandinatha Sampradaya’s Kailasa Paramparaand Guru at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery – a sprawling 382-acre temple-monastery complex on Hawaii’s Garden Island, was last Friday at Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Kovil, with a busload of his disciples and devotees from America to participate in the special puja held here.
His Holiness Bodhinatha Veylanswami
The American Hindu Chief Prelate, the largest and oldest Hindu Monastery in the Western world, participated in the homam (ritual – a Hindu ceremonial one, Abhishekam – a Sanskrit word meaning “sprinkling” or “wetting,” and refers to the Hindu ritual of pouring water or other sacred substances on a statue of a deity or deities, Puja a prayer ritual performed by Hindus of devotional worship to one or more deities and Shanmuga Archanai” ( a very powerful Vedic ritual performed in the Temples of Lord Shanmuga, to keep us protected from all evil forces and lead a very blissful and devotional life).
American Swamiji when speaking to‘Asian Tribune’ said that successive heads of the Hindu Monastery located in Hawai, used to visit Sri Lanka since from 1969, to numerous Holiest Hindu shrines scattered all over the Island Republic. He said that there are Ishwarams (abodes of Lord Shiva) sung, venerated and glorified by Hindu saints of yore.
He specifically said that his visit was the second-one to the Holiest Maviddapuram Temple, located in Kanesanthurai, the western tip of the Northern Sri Lankan Peninsula.
Maviddapuram, a Lord Skantha’s Temple, located in Kankesanthurai, older than 2500 years, constructed by the Chola Princess Maruthapura Veeravalli, subsequently the fiancée of Maharaja Ukkiracinkan, one of the colleagues of King Viaya, who came with his 600 friends from the Northern India and settled in the Island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) some 2500 years ago.
In my capacity as Special Advisor to the Temple’s Restoration Committee, along with its Secretary R.Perinpanayakam met with His Holiness Bodhinatha Veylanswami, who presides over three organizations: Saiva Siddhanta Church, Himalayan Academy publications and Hindu Heritage Endowment, who was at the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Kovil and during interludes of the Temple rituals carried on, on Friday 22 March.
I explained to him about the Temple restoration works. I told him that in the previous Government, Northern Province Governor G.A. Chandrasri was the first to allocate Rs. 1 million and on the 22nd of this month Megapolis ad Western Province Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, visited the Temple and our requirements were brought to his notice and our proposals for Rs. 3689 million was submitted to him.
His Holiness while blessing both of us who prostrated at his feet, gave both ‘five facets’ Holy Tulsi seeds (Ocimum sanctum) – one for each. He told us that those Tulasi seeds were from the Tulasi trees grown in their Monastery gardens.
Perinpanayagam pointed out that there is one Tulasi tree in the second courtyard, within the compound of Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Kovil and this rare tree has started bearing seeds since for the last three to four years.
In my turn, I brought to the attention of the American Swamiji that there are more than 4,697 Hindu Temples in Sri Lanka and unlike the practice of Christians and Muslims religious leaders, who receives funds from their respective international organizations to build places of worships and for the propagation and proselytize, but in Hinduism development and propagation activities – it is always acts of every individuals of the religion and they single-handedly and collectively do everything.
I pointed out it was through the donation provided by the Hindus all over the World, the chief priest Maharajasri D.S.Ratnasabapathy Kurukkal, who is also the Governing Authority of the Temple, manages to reconstruct the temple after being bombarded and destroyed in 1990.
I appealed to the Swamiji to help in the restoration of the Lord Skanda’s abode.
He was affirmative in his response.