Kauai Hindu temple-the story of the largest crystal Shiva Linga

We recently had the good fortune of visiting the Hindu temple & monastery in Kauai. (Per Hindu beliefs, one can visit a temple only if God has willed the visit). The temple's location was in a beautiful green garden with thick foliage & flowers and a tributary of the Wailua river nearby. There is a beautiful banyan tree with spots for meditation. A hand-carved granite temple in Tamil Chola style is under construction. The Tamil sculptors have been brought in from India. A lot of offline work is happening in Bengaluru. The temple's foundation is built using the research done by a UC Berkeley professor on the ancient architectures of the world such as the Roman Coliseum, designed to last a long time.

We also had the chance to learn more about the temple by joining a weekly guided tour (by volunteers) & talking to Sanyasis (monks) in the temple. Our volunteer guide had a Tamil name and was explaining the basics of Hinduism to a fairly sizeable crowd. They follow Ashta-anga Yoga & the Shaiva Siddhantha tradition.

Shiva is typically worshipped in the form of a Linga, which represents the formless given form. One of the materials of the Linga is the Spathika (crystal) Linga, which represents the 5th subtle element of Akasha (translated space/ether/sky). The Pancha Bhootas or the 5 elements are Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Akasha.

There is a large crystal Shiva lingam in the temple. This is the largest 6 sided single pointed crystal structure in the world. I heard some interesting stories about this crystal. Here is my version compiled from my talks with two monks in the temple. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (called Gurudeva by his followers) once had a vision about this large crystal. He and one of the monks who I talked to were looking for it for 15 years. The monk mentioned that he once thought that this didn't exist, and was only a figment of his imagination.

Later, a lady, Almitra Zion, had the vision of this crystal and also where it was. She went to the temple & requested to meet Gurudeva. When she met him and told him of her vision, Gurudeva bought her a ticket as she requested. She went to a miner in Arkansas called Jimmy Coleman and mentioned this crystal & requested it for purchase. They denied knowledge of this & turned her back. She was asked to go back repeatedly and repeat this request every day. She was in tears at being asked to request this repeatedly. But she persisted. After a few days, the miners admitted that they had this crystal.

Jimmy Coleman was 65 feet deep in the mines and he found a perfectly formed 6 sided single pointed crystal standing 3'3" weighing approximately 500 pounds. Since this was so rare, he covered it. Only he & his brother knew about it and they had told no one. Surprised by these repeated requests and hearing about this vision, they admitted to its existence & agreed to sell the crystal. On Aug 12, 1987, the crystal arrived in Kauai.

Near the temple, there is a Rudra-aksha tree grove. Rudra-aksha means eye of Rudra. The Rudraaksha seeds are blue (the blue color symbolizes Shiva's throat). The beads are dried and hand-processed by the monks in the temple & sold in the nearby temple store.

Sources:
- https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=453
- Verbal talks with monks in the temple
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraivan_Temple
- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19509206/ns/us_news-life/t/kauai-monastery-builds-hindu-temple-last/#.WtJdtmWEeV5

https://www.himalayanacademy.com/blog/taka/2017/01/07/a-clear-crystal-vision-the-story-of-iraivans-lingam/

https://kukuiula.com/kauai-hindu-temple/