Iraivan Temple

About

The San Marga Iraivan Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located on Kauaʻi, 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 whose construction began in 1990. The Iraivan Temple is located next to the Wailua River and 8 km from Mount Waialeale. It is maintained by the Saiva Siddhanta temple which is also known as Kauaʻi Aadheenam and Kauaʻi's Hindu Monastery. The main murti, or worshipful icon, is a rare 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 Chidambaram, Madurai, Rameshwaram, and other great Siva temples are to India."

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.