1. Record Year for Vaishno Devi Temple In Jammu
2. Unique Nataraj Temple Built by Dr. Karan Singh
3. New York Times Editorial: Meat a Threat to the Planet

1. Record Year for Vaishno Devi Temple In Jammu

news.monstersandcritics.com

JAMMU, INDIA, December 27, 2006: A record 6.7 million pilgrims have visited the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir this year with nearly 25,000 devotees climbing the mountainous terrain every day despite snow, rains and sub-zero temperatures. "We have recorded the arrival of pilgrims at 6.7 million and with the rush increasing in the run up to New Year's Eve, we hope to receive over 6.9 million people," Puneet Kumar, additional chief executive officer of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, told IANS. The temple saw 6.5 million pilgrims in 2005.

The 13 km track from the base camp in Katra has now been made hassle-free and there are public utility services along the way. Availability of good accommodation and food at reasonable rates has also made the shrine popular.

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2. Unique Nataraj Temple Built by Dr. Karan Singh

www.earth-auroville.com

AUROVILLE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, January 1, 2007: (HPI note: a longer report and many photos of the temple are at URL above.) Sri Karneshwar Nataraja temple located on the beach at Pudhukuppam, 12 kilometers north of Auroville, was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh and his wife Smt. Yasho Rajya Lakshmi on September 30, 2006. Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation, being a devotee of Lord Shiva already built in 2000 a smaller temple on the beach near Auroville. The tsunami of 26th December 2004 destroyed it and Dr. Karan Singh asked Satprem Maini from the Auroville Earth Institute to rebuild a new pyramid temple. The new temple has been rebuilt on the same place. The Great Pyramid of Egypt is the origin of the concept and the proportions of Sri Karneshwar Nataraja Temple are based on the proportions of this Great Pyramid. The proportions of the latter generate also the pointed dome which houses Lord Nataraja. The pyramid is oriented exactly towards the magnetic North so as to generate its maximum energy. The height of the pedestal, on which stands Lord Nataraja, is such that his third eye is located at one-third from the base of the pyramid, as this point has the most powerful energy of the pyramid. In accordance with Indian tradition, there are three paths for pradakshina, the worshipful circumambulation: around the statue of the Deity within the sanctum; immediately around the temple and around the complex itself. The entrance faces south, in line with the Indian tradition of Shiva as Dakshinamurthy, the Teacher of the South.

Dr. Karan Singh is the son of the last Maharaja of Kashmir. Building temples is part of his family responsibility. His great-grandfather, Ranhir Singh, who ruled from 1860 to about 1880, has become known as one of the greatest temple builders in Indian history. He built more than a 100 Hindu shrines and temples, mostly in Kashmir. Amongst them is the Raghunath temple, dedicated to Sri Rama, Vishnu's eighth incarnation. "We Singhs are descendants of Sri Rama, who is our traditional family Deity. The Raghunath temple complex, the largest in North India, houses the samadhis of the Singh dynasty," says Dr. Karan Singh. "For years, I've had a vision of building a pyramidal temple dedicated to Lord Nataraja. The pyramid is sacred to the Egyptians and Nataraja to the Hindus. For the first time in history, the pyramid and Nataraja have been brought together. The temple has been constructed mainly for the purpose of Dhyan (meditation) and there will not be many rituals like in other temples," says Dr. Karan Singh.

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3. New York Times Editorial: Meat a Threat to the Planet

www.nytimes.com

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, December 27, 2006: (HPI note: The following item is from the editorial page of the New York Times -- not the place you'd normally expect a anti-meat statement...)

When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase in the number of humans. But as we multiply, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present, there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a critical part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet. Just how enormous was not really apparent until the publication of a new report, called "Livestock's Long Shadow," by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Consider these numbers. Global livestock grazing and feed production use "30 percent of the land surface of the planet." Livestock -- which consume more food than they yield -- also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests especially, than anything else. But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation's contribution. The culprits are methane -- the natural result of bovine digestion -- and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect. There are no easy trade-offs when it comes to global warming -- such as cutting back on cattle to make room for cars. The human passion for meat is certainly not about to end anytime soon. As "Livestock's Long Shadow" makes clear, our health and the health of the planet depend on pushing livestock production in more sustainable directions.

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