At the botanical gardens in Princeville, the tour guide pointed out some deep blue spheres on the ground, which she said were fruit of the Rudraksha tree. I perked up at this, not knowing where they grew aside from the Himalayan foothills. Inside each fruit is a seed, which is made into the Rudraksha beads.
She surprised me further by saying that there is an entire grove of these trees near a Hindu monastery in the hills of Kapa'a. I had no idea there was a Hindu monastery on the island, and decided to visit it.
A beautiful, serene and secluded place, set in the hills of Kapa'a, it is an Iraivan Shiva temple, and nearby is the grove of Rudraksha trees. See the stunning blue fruit of the tree at Ganesha’s feet.
I took pictures of the information about the temple itself and a few outside and within the gift shop. Note the Ganesha sitting and reading a book!
The gift ship had some lovely items and I got a bracelet with a Rudraksha bead and a couple of turtles ("honu" in Hawaiian) and a couple of other items with the beads. Om Nama Shivaiya!
