Stewards

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

Chairman

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is Gurudeva's designated successor, having spent 37 years training and serving at Gurudeva's side. On November 13, 2001, he was installed as Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam and the 163rd preceptor of the Kailasa Parampara. Bodhinatha is the spiritual head of Saiva Siddhanta Church, Himalayan Academy and Hindu Heritage Endowment. As publisher of Hinduism Today magazine, he carries forward Gurudeva's vision to inform, strengthen and connect Hindus around the world. Read a more thorough biography here.

Paramacharya Palaniswami

Vice Chairman

Paramacharya Palaniswami is one of the stewards of Saiva Siddhanta Church, Himalayan Academy and Hindu Heritage Endowment. He is the leader of the Ganapati Kulam, the monastic team reponsible for all book and magazine production, translations, art work, web work and publications. He is intimately involved with the design and construction of Iraivan Temple, working with the master builders. He is also editor-in-chief of Hinduism Today magazine and the other publications and guide of the Innersearch Travel-Study Programs. He is the senior counselor to the monastic community and overseer of our global relationships with other Hindu organizations and interfaith religious forums. On retreat days, he fulfills the monastery's vision of a sacred garden and tropical paradise by collecting, cultivating and planting many varieties of sacred, medicinal and tropical plants, palms and trees around the monastery grounds.

Paramacharya Sivanatha

Secretary/Treasurer

Paramacharya Sivanatha is a steward of Saiva Siddhanta Church, Himalayan Academy and Hindu Heritage Endowment. He is also the leader of the Lambodhara Kulam, the team which manages Kadavul Siva Temple, monastic health and welfare, the monastery kitchen and our many animals. He works with all the monastics through his extensive knowledge of ayurveda and Vedic astrology. Ceyonswami is our senior temple priest, trained in Sri Lanka in the traditional Saivite devotional rites. He assists Bodhinatha as the Publisher's Aide for Hinduism Today magazine and oversees the fund-raising for Iraivan Temple.

Staff

Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami

Charitable Funds Manager

Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami is the leader of the Pillaiyar Kulam, the monastic team responsible for the promotion of Himalayan Academy's outreach programs and distribution of our publications, including Hinduism Today subscriptions. He guides efforts to get our religious teachings into the hands of temples, ashrams, schools, libraries and individuals around the world, and works with professional distributors to achieve these goals. His team handles the administrative and business activities of the Church, Academy and Hindu Heritage Endowment. Knowledgeable in the traditional Hindu sacred calendar, Shanmuganathaswami has spent years writing and refining the computer program which creates the almanac, or panchangam, that guides the spiritual and practical life of the monastery and Church members. He writes the code and supervises the structure of our master 4th Dimension database. He oversees the care and breeding of our small herd of milk-producing cows, and he is also our in-house telephone system engineer. On retreats he enjoys making home-style root beer, ginger ale and other beverages for his spiritual brothers to occasionally enjoy.

Sannyasin Siddhanathaswami

Accountant

Sannyasin Siddhanathaswami was initiated into sannyas during the full moon of May in 2010. A member of the Pillaiyar Kulam, swami is training directly with Bodhinatha as the monastery accountant and information manager. His math and computer-script-writing gifts are keys to the monastery's efficiency. On retreats he tends tropical fruit trees from around the world, planting and nurturing them to provide a variety of fruits for the monks. He has taken an interest in woodworking, particularly in milling woods harvested from the monastery land, including rudraksha, camphor, blue gum, jambhu and lychee, and making useful things with the lumbers derived.