Saiva Siddhanta Temple is an organization that identifies itself with the

Saivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religion. It supports the work of the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a spiritual teacher initiated by Siva

Yogaswami Jnana guru Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna ( ta, சிவயோகசுவாமி, si, යොගස්වාමි; 1872–1964) was a 20th-century spiritual master, a ''śivajnani'' and a''natha siddhar'' revered by Hindus, however he had a n ...

of Jaffna with the honorary title ''

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

deva''. The mission of the temple is to preserve and promote the

Hindu religion. Membership in the temple extends to many countries in the world, including the US, Canada, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka and several European nations. Members are organized into regional missions with the goal of supporting

Saivism Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

in their families, communities, and in the global community under the leadership of

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami Bodhinatha Veylanswami (born October 15, 1942 in Berkeley, California) is a Hindu sannyasin monk and a religious leader, who is the head of Kauai's Hindu Monastery and publisher of Hinduism Today magazine. He is the 163rd head of the Nandinatha Sa ...

History

The Temple was founded in 1949 by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a

Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The known ...

initiated by his guru, Siva

of Jaffna. The name of the Temple is from the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

and could be roughly rendered in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as "The Temple of God Śiva's Revealed Truth." The Saiva Siddhanta Temple was incorporated under the laws of the United States of America in the State of California on December 30, 1957, and received recognition of its US Internal Revenue tax exempt status as a temple on February 12, 1962. Among America's oldest Hindu institutions, it established its international headquarters at Kauai Aadheenam, also known as Kauai's Hindu Monastery, on

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, on February 5, 1970. Kauai's Hindu Monastery has two temples,

Iraivan Temple The San Marga Iraivan Temple is a Chola-style Hindu temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva located on the Kauai island in the state of Hawaii, USA. "Iraivan" means "He who is worshipped," and is one of the oldest words for God in the Tamil language. ...

and

Kadavul Temple The Kadavul Hindu Temple is a Jaffna-Style Hindu temple dedicated to the Shiva located on the Kauai island in the state of Hawaii, USA. It is maintained by the Saiva Siddhanta Temple which is also known as Kauai Aadheenam or Kauai's Hindu Monas ...

Purpose

The Saiva Siddhanta Temple supports all major projects supervised by

Satguru ''Satguru'' ( sa, सत्गुरु), or ''sadguru'' ( sa, सद्गुरु), means the 'true guru' in Sanskrit. The term is distinguished from other forms of gurus, such as musical instructors, scriptural teachers, parents, and so on ...

Bodhinatha Veylanswami Bodhinatha Veylanswami (born October 15, 1942 in Berkeley, California) is a Hindu sannyasin monk and a religious leader, who is the head of Kauai's Hindu Monastery and publisher of Hinduism Today magazine. He is the 163rd head of the Nandinatha Sa ...

, including: * Construction of the

on Kauai, a white granite stone Siva temple sculpted in India. * Publication of the magazine

Hinduism Today ''Hinduism Today'' is a quarterly magazine published by the Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution, in Kapaʻa, Hawaiʻi, USA. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally, currently in 60 nations. Founded by ...

. The magazine is widely read among Hindus in India and in the worldwide diaspora. Thus, it provides an important means for worldwide networking, which is widely acknowledged. * Publication and distribution of books, booklets, and online material aimed at educating Hindus and non-Hindus about the Saivite Hindu religion. * Teaching through lessons, literature, study courses, travel-study programs and youth retreats those actively pursuing the spiritual path under his guidance. * Establishment and administration of charity organizations for Hindus worldwide, under the umbrella of Hindu Heritage Endowment.

Theology

The Saiva Siddhanta Temple belongs to a

monistic Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...

branch of the school of

Saiva Siddhanta Shaiva Siddhanta () (Tamil: சைவ சித்தாந்தம் "Caiva cittāntam") is a form of Shaivism that propounds a dualistic philosophy where the ultimate and ideal goal of a being is to become an enlightened soul through Shiv ...

. Its theology is grounded in the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

, Saiva

Agamas Religion *Āgama (Buddhism), a collection of Early Buddhist texts *Āgama (Hinduism), scriptures of several Hindu sects *Jain literature (Jain Āgamas), various canonical scriptures in Jainism Other uses * ''Agama'' (lizard), a genus of lizards ...

and the ancient

Tirumantiram The ''Tirumantiram or Thirumantiram'' is a Tamil poetic work, written either in the 6th century CE or post 10th century CE by Tirumular and is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', the key texts of Saiva Siddhanta and the first k ...

, a Tamil scripture composed by

Tirumular Tirumular (also spelt Thirumoolar etc., originally known as Suntaranāthar) was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanmars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the ''Tirumantiram'' (also sometimes wri ...

. The temple's theology is based on a synthesis of devotional theism and uncompromising nondualism. It is referred to as "monistic theism", which recognizes that monism and dualism/ pluralism are equally valid perspectives. God is both within us and outside of us, the Creator and the creation,

immanent The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheis ...

and transcendent.

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (born Robert Hansen; January 5, 1927 – November 12, 2001) was an American Hindu religious leader known as Gurudeva by his followers. Subramuniyaswami was born in Oakland, California and adopted Hinduism as a young man ...

explains:

Kauai Hindu Monastery

Kauai Hindu Monastery is situated on the

Kauai island Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

in Hawaii, consisting of two temples:

and

. Kadavul was established in 1973 by

. Construction of Iraivan began in 1990; it is the first all-stone, white granite temple to be built in the western hemisphere.

In the press

Referring to the Iraivan Temple,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

reporter Michelle Kayal wrote: Since 1973 the temple has maintained a second temple at the Kauai Aadheenam, called

, which has Siva Nataraja as the enshrined deity.

Gallery

File:Iraivan Temple.jpg,

File:Iraivan dsc8361.jpg,

File:Iraivan1.jpg,

view from afar with flag File:Iraivan DSC 3275.jpg, Interior of

File:Iraivan Pillared Mandapam.jpg, Inside

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

File:Iraivan5.JPG,

under construction File:Kadavul tandavas.jpg, Inside wall of Kadavul temple

Notes

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External links

Śaiva Siddhanta Temple's homepage
Shaivism Hinduism in the United States Hinduism in Hawaii Hindu denominations