Iraivan Temple: Difference between revisions

{{Update|date=February 2024|reason= [https://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2023/04/10/iraivan-temple-crystal-sivalinga-installation-livestream-highlights/ Construction progress updates needed past April 2023]}}

{{Infobox Hindu temple

| name = Iraivan Temple

| image =Iraivan Temple.jpg

| alt =San Marga Iraivan Temple

| caption = Iraivan Temple

| coordinates = {{coord|22.059361|-159.396946}}

| native_name = San Marga Iraivan Temple

| country = [[United States]]

| state = [[Hawaii]]

| district =

| location = [[Kapaa, Hawaii|Kapa{{okina}}a]]

| elevation_m =

| deity = [[Shiva|Lord Shiva]]

| festivals =

| architecture =[[Chola dynasty|Chola]]-style Temple

| number_of_monuments=

| inscriptions =

| established =1990 construction started

| creator =Kauai Hindu Monastery and architect V. Ganapati Sthapati

| website ={{URL|www.himalayanacademy.com/}}

| map_type=North Pacific#Hawaii}}

The San Marga '''Iraivan Temple''' is a [[Hindu]] temple dedicated to [[Lord Shiva|Shiva]] located on [[Kauai]], an island in the state of [[Hawaii]], USA. "Iraivan" means "One Above All," and is one of the oldest words for God in the [[Tamil language]]. It is the first all-stone, white granite temple to be built in the western hemisphere<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news|title=Iraivan temple in the news|last=|first=|date=|website=|at=THE GARDEN ISLAND|access-date=}}</ref> whose construction began in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news|title=Iraivan Temple In the News|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|at=THE NEW YORK TIMES & [[The Navhind Times]]|access-date=}}</ref> The Iraivan Temple is located next to the [[Wailua River]] and 8&nbsp;km from [[Mount Waialeale]]. It is maintained by the [[Saiva Siddhanta Temple|Saiva Siddhanta Church]] which is also known as Kauai Aadheenam and Kauai's Hindu Monastery. The temple is under construction. The main [[murti]], or worshipful icon, is a rare {{transl|sa|spathika [[Sivalinga]]}}, a pointed, six-faced 700-pound clear quartz crystal.

Sri Trichy Mahaswamigal (d. 2005) of Kailash Ashram, [[Bangalore]], describes the temple's importance: "The Iraivan Temple is going to be to America what the temples of [[Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram|Chidambaram]], [[Meenakshi Amman Temple|Madurai]], [[Ramanathaswamy Temple|Rameshwaram]], and other great Siva temples are to [[India]]."<ref name="Island Temple">{{cite web | title = Island Temple | url = http://www.himalayanacademy.com/ssc/hawaii/iraivan/island_temple_magazine/isleTemple-04_14-15.pdf}}</ref>

The Iraivan Temple was envisioned by the founder Satguru [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]], on February 15, 1975.<ref name="Iraivan Temple In the News">{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news|title=Iraivan Temple In the News|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|at=The Navhind Times, India|access-date=}}</ref> He required that the temple be made without the use of machinery.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Iraivan Temple In the News |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news |access-date= |website= |at=INDIA TODAY}}</ref>

In 1990, two swamis, Sri Sivaratnapuri Mahaswamigal and [[Balagangadharanatha Swamiji|Sri Balagangadharanatha]] provided eleven acres of land outside [[Bangalore]], India. The land served as a carving ground for 75 stone-carvers who hand-carved more than 4,000 blocks of granite to be transported to the temple site at [[Kauai]].<ref name="Iraivan Temple In the News"/> Beginning in 2001, the stone were shipped to Kauai and assembly begun by a team of silpi temple carvers under the direction of a master architect or ''sthapati''. The 3.2 million pound temple is still under construction.<ref>{{cite web | title = Iraivan website FAQ | url = http://www.himalayanacademy.com/about/faq.shtml}}</ref><ref name="himalayanacademy.com">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Iraivan Temple In the News |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news |access-date= |website= |at=The Navhind Times, India}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The current head of the project is Satguru [[Bodhinatha Veylanswami]], successor to the founder.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-28 |title=A Spectacular Hindu Temple in Hawaii Began as a Dream in SF |url=https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/28/hindu-temple-hawaii-began-san-francisco/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The San Francisco Standard |language=en}}</ref>

==Architecture==

[[File:Iraivan4.jpg|thumb|Artist's conception of Iraivan Temple]]

The temple faces south and is a [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] architectural style temple and designed according to the [[Vastu shastra|Vastu]] and [[Agama (Hinduism)|Agamas]] scriptures by [[V. Ganapati Sthapati]]. It is made entirely from granite and possesses a number of rare architectural features.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Iraivan Temple In the News |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news |access-date= |website= |publisher= |at=INDIA TODAY}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-11-15 |title=Salute the sculptor |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/salute-the-sculptor/article4098020.ece |access-date=2024-01-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> At the entrance of the temple, there is a 32 diameter bell and chain carved from one entire stone that hangs from the ceiling.<ref name=":1" /> The pillars of temple include unique features, such as eight lion-shaped pillars with a rotatable stone ball in each of their mouths and two pillars with 16 carved rods that produce musical tones when struck with a mallet.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=January 28, 2012 |title=The Navhind Times |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news}}</ref>

The temple is carved entirely by hand by craftsmen who follow and preserve traditional methods, shaping the stone with small hammers and utilizing over 70 types of [[chisels]]. There is the {{convert|4|ft|m|adj=mid|-thick}} foundation made of a crack-free, 7,000-psi formula using [[fly ash]], a by-product of [[coal]] burning.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Vastu architecture aims at creating a space that will elevate the vibration of the individual to resonate with the vibration of the built space, which in turn is in tune with universal space. The whole space of the temple is defined in multiples and fractions of one unit, {{convert|11|ft|m}} and 7^1/4 inches. Pillars through the temple are spaced and structured to serve as energy points for the building. Iraivan Temple will be completely free of electricity for mystical reasons, as decreed by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

== Deities ==

The inner sanctum of the temple houses the [[murti]] (sacred image) of Shiva in the form of a rare [[Spatika Lingam]], a pointed, six-faced 700-pound clear quartz crystal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Photos: An all-granite, hand-carved Hindu temple in Hawaii |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/11/23/photos-on-hawaii-island-the-wests-only-all-granite-hand-carved-hindu-temple |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraivan Temple Crystal Siva Lingam Installation Ceremonies Commence on Kauai – Hindu Press International |url=https://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2023/03/21/iraivan-temple-crystal-siva-lingam-installation-ceremonies-commence-on-kauai/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |language=en-US}}</ref> In the early 1980s, Subramuniyaswami had been seeing the crystal in his dreams. He found it in 1987 and brought it to Kauai. The stone, estimated to be 50 million years old, was not cut out of rock by a miner. Instead, it was found in a perfect state encased in mud, probably harvested from its original outcropping by an earthquake.The Spatika Lingam is considered especially sacred because it represents the element of [[akasha]].<ref name="Island Temple" /> The campus also hosts and maintains the [[Kadavul Temple|Kadavul temple]] in which Shiva in the form of [[Nataraja]] is the primary deity.<ref name=":0" />

File:Iraivan Temple.jpg|Iraivan Temple's side view

File:Vimanam.jpg|Vimana over the garbhagriha or inner sanctum

File:Iraivan2.jpg|Vimana over the garbhagriha or inner sanctum

File:Iraivan dsc8361.jpg|Iraivin temple

File:Iraivan DSC 3275.jpg|Interior of Iraivan temple

File:Iraivan Pillared Mandapam.jpg|Inside Iraivan temple

File:Iraivan5.JPG|Iraivan temple under construction

File:Iraivan1.jpg|Iravian temple view from afar with flag

== See also ==

* [[Kadavul Temple|Kadavul temple]]

* [[Saiva Siddhanta Church]]

* [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]]

* [[Bodhinatha Veylanswami]]

== References ==

* {{Commons category-inline}}

* [http://www.himalayanacademy.com/ssc/hawaii/iraivan/ Iraivan Temple at Hawaii]

* [http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/A%20Concrete%20Slab%20for%20Y3K_0.pdf A Concrete Slab for Y3K]

{{Shaivism}}

{{Shiva temples}}

{{Hindu temples in the United States}}

[[Category:Asian-American cultureinHawaii]]

[[Category:Buildings and structures under constructioninthe United States]]

[[Category:Hindu temples in Hawaii]]