Priest's Fund Supports Satguru's Malaysia Travel

January-February-March 2009 Newsletter

Whenever Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of the Kauai Monastery goes to Malaysia, a Hindu priest and astrologer from Ulu Behrang, Parak helps pay for his travel.

The priest's son, Selvanathan Jothiswarar of Kuala Lumpur, says his father combines generosity with practicality. "He says that when it comes to swamis, instead of giving what we like, it's important to give what they need," Mr. Selvanathan stated.

His father, also named Jothiswarar, helps offset an unavoidable expense. Though Veylanswami spends most of the year on the island of Kauai where he overseas a monastery-temple and its publication operations, his duties require travel throughout North America and Asia. He regularly holds pilgrimages, gives talks and conducts ceremonies in Malaysia, India, Mauritius, Canada, Singapore and elsewhere.

The elder Jothiswarar first started supporting Malaysian travels for Veylanswami's predecessor, the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Gurudeva). Mr. Jothiswarar would ask the trip organizers how he could help and then charge Gurudeva's hotel and travel expenses to his credit card, making the holy visitor a guest to his nation.

"Dad then got the idea of starting an endowment fund for Satguru's Malaysian travels," Mr. Selvanathan recounted. His father established the Kodiswara Satguru Malaysia Travel Fund at the Hindu Heritage Endowment, naming it after his grandson Kodiswara who had been named by Gurudeva. In Mr. Selvanathan's view, "It was as though Gurudeva himself had named the fund."

Mr. Jothiswarar's personal journey was not an easy one. After being orphaned at age five, he was adopted by a Sri Lankan family. He received training in astrology and the priesthood in Sri Lanka. He left his adoptive family at age 16, finally marrying and settling in Ulu Behrang. He became active in politics and, with the help of a government grant, built a Tamil school and a Lord Subramanya temple on a nearby estate in 1967 and a Lord Ganesha Temple in Ulu Behrang in 1975.

Gurudeva visited the temple in 1983 and, according to Mr. Selvanathan, had a vision of Lord Ganesha listening to his father who by now was known throughout Malaysia as one of its leading astrologers.

Now 75, Mr. Jothiswarar is twice a recipient of the government's Distinguished Conduct Medal (Pingat Pekerti Terpilih) and the Meritorious Service Medal (Pingat Jasa Kebaktian) for his social service work. His son, Mr. Selvanathan, has followed his father's example and established the Rani Jothiswarar Memorial Fund (fund #66) at HHE in honor of his late wife (see Hinduism Today Oct-Nov-Dec 2008.) The fund supports the retreat facilities for the monks at Kauai's Hindu Monastery.

An engineer by profession, Mr. Selvanathan now works as an astrologer in Kuala Lumpur and regularly assists his father with the Ganesha Temple prayer services in Ulu Behrang.

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Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization recognized as tax exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Employer ID 99-0308924. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally managed financial support for institutions and religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dharma.

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