KAUAI HINDU MONASTERY

Kauai Hawaii

The Kauai Hindu Monastery occupies 72 acres of the most beautiful terrain on the planet. In years past, the monks occupied only a very small section of mountain. That was about to change. The monastery asked for help with the design of the entire landscape. 

The Iraivan Temple building, which was already situated in the landscape, was constructed over the course of 18 years. It is an extraordinarily ornate stone carved building, perhaps the last such structure carved entirely by hand without the use of machinery. The artisans use a sacred granite and carve it in South India near the quarries. About every two years they come to the monastery for six months and do the finished carving and installation. This temple is an awesome sight and its location on the mountain is perfect, absolutely perfect.

It was a humbling experience.

Fortunately I wasn’t on my own. Sadashivanathaswami was a brilliant garden talent. My daughter, Daphne, visited the monastery and met Sadashivanathaswami. When she got back she told me I have to meet this man. She thought we were kindred spirits and needed to meet one another. She said that he took her on a tour of the gardens he had created - the succulent garden, the bromeliad gardens, the ginger fields, the thick pepper vine. She said, as they walked the plants all seemed to wake up and smile at him. He smiled back.

She was spot on. Working with Sadashivanathaswami was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. 

The longs-term design involved relocating the guest entry to the temple, so that monastic activities could be cloistered from the intrusion of distractions. But the immediate concern was the landscape around the Iraivan Temple. On the third year we started final design and construction. We were joined by Dante Ortiz, and brilliant artist who has helped me with the realization of many of my most challenging designs.