HAWAII, 04 December 2025: Nestled on the small Hawaiian island of Kauai stands the Iraivan Temple, a stunning white granite edifice recognized as the only all-granite, hand-carved Hindu temple in the West built entirely without power tools or electricity.
The temple, modeled after millennia-old traditions of South India’s Chola Dynasty, was inspired by a mystical vision experienced by the center’s late founder, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Its construction, overseen by two dozen monks of the Kauai Aadheenam campus, began in 1990 and concluded recently with its consecration. The word Iraivan means “he who is worshipped” in Tamil.
Monks supervised the creation of an entire village in India where artisans hand-built the 3,600 stones, pillars, and beams over 33 years. According to Paramacharya Sadasivanatha Palaniswami, a long-serving monk, the founder believed electricity disrupts the sacred space, preferring the “quiet, a calmness” achieved only by illumination from oil lamps.
Alignment with Native Hawaiian Heritage
Despite the island’s Hindu population being estimated at less than 1%, the monks of the all-male monastery have focused on being conscientious stewards of their faith and the land.
The site, historically known to Native Hawaiians as Pihanakalani (“the fullness of heaven”), required careful cultural consideration. The founder deliberately reached out to local leaders, including spiritual practitioner Abraham Kawai’i, who deemed the location “perfect.” Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Sabra Kauka praised the monks’ exquisite care for the historic land, including their landscaping and control of invasive species.
This interfaith focus continues, as the temple recently helped connect Hindu donors to local groups leading recovery efforts following the deadly Maui wildfires in August.
Shaivite Practice and Global Reach
The monks follow Shaivism, a major Hindu tradition that holds Lord Shiva as the supreme being. The main temple deity is a 700-pound quartz crystal shivalingam.
Beyond the temple’s physical construction, the order, under its current leader Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, completed a significant project in the 1990s: the digitization of fragile agamas (ancient Shaivite texts etched on palm leaves). This effort preserved the “Shaivite user manual” and made instructions from temple operations to family management publicly accessible.
Monk Palaniswami, who tends to the 382-acre grounds, also planted 108 Rudraksha trees, native to Nepal and rare in the West. Rudraksha, meaning “the tear of Shiva,” bears seeds used for meditation, representing Shiva’s compassion for humanity. The order believes this beautiful, holy place serves as a “catalytic power to help you find that sacredness within.”
