Kauai is known as the Garden Isle.

It is enchanting, majestic and heavenly all at the same time.

It’s sacred waters run from the mountains down to the valleys and rainforests…

Tread the Straight Path to God to a Hindu temple enshrining a 200-year-old, 6-foot bronze of the god Siva, set amidst 458 cultivated acres near the foot of an extinct volcano. Monks tend the ashram garden’s ayurvedic plants, exotic blooms, and a rudraksha (tears of God in Sanskrit) forest; the name refers to the trees’ seeds, used to make prayer beads.

Planning: The monks proved free tours, starting at 9 and 11 every morning, but donations are welcome. Visitors should dress modestly—no T-shirts, shorts, short dresses, or tank tops.

It is traditional for Hindu temples to cultivate nearby gardens that provide beauty, medicinal resources, fruits and flowers for daily offerings. But this Hawaiian hideaway exceeds all concepts of the heritage. Over the past 20 years, an evolution took place on a remote 51-acre parcel four miles from the sea, transforming it from overgrown wilderness to a tropical paradise.