Saiva Siddhanta Church

Saiva Siddhanta Church

Kadavul Temple at Kauai's Hindu Monastery
Formation	1949 (In United States)
Founder	Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Type	501(c)(3)
Headquarters	Hawaii, United States
Official language	English
Leader	Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Staff	21 monks, plus volunteers
Website	Śaiva Siddhanta Church

Saiva Siddhanta Church is an organization that identifies itself with the Śaivite Hindu religion. It supports the work of the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami 1927-2001, a spiritual teacher with the honorary title “Gurudeva.” The mission of the Church is to preserve and promote the Śaivite Hindu religion. Membership in the Church extends to many countries of the world, including the USA, Canada, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka and several European nations. Members are organized into regional Church missions with the goal of supporting Saivism in their families, communities, and in the global community under the leadership of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

The Church was founded in 1949 by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a Saiva Hindu guru from the United States. The name of the Church is from the Sanskrit language and could be roughly rendered in English as "The Church of God Śiva's Revealed Truth." The Saiva Siddhanta Church was incorporated under the laws of the United States of America in the State of California on December 30, 1957, and received recognition of its US Internal Revenue tax exempt status as a church on February 12, 1962. Among America’s oldest Hindu institutions, it established its international headquarters at Kauai Aadheenam, also known as Kauai's Hindu Monastery, on Kauai, Hawaii, on February 5, 1970.

The core purpose of the Church is to protect, preserve and promote the Saivite Hindu religion as embodied in the Tamil culture, traditions and scriptures of South India and Sri Lanka. It is based on the precepts of the Nandinatha Sampradaya, and traces its origins to a two-thousand-year-old lineage of the Kailasa Paramparā Gurus. The current head of the Church is Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. The Church is oriented to serving those of Tamil descent, especially those from Sri Lanka. However, its membership is open to seekers of all ethnic backgrounds who wish to follow this ancient religious and cultural pattern. Currently, more than 85% of the global membership are born Hindus living, mostly, in Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Sri Lanka. Many of the members living in the West are converts to Hinduism who live the path which leads souls through service, worship, sadhana and yoga toward God Realization.