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KURNOOL, INDIA, April 3, 2008: The surfacing of Sangameswara temple, an ancient shrine located in the Srisailam reservoir bed off Muchumarri in Kurnool district, is likely to be delayed this year. The untimely rain in the last fortnight increased the reservoir level to 861.20 ft accounting for storage of 153 tmcft. The temple starts surfacing at 858 ft and devotees could have darshan when the level recedes to 834 ft.

Telakapalli Raghurama Sarma, priest of the temple, is hopeful of conducting Kalyanotsavam in the first week of June when the water level recedes beyond 834 ft. He said around 20,000 devotees will gather on June 2 to witness Kalyanotsavam. The rituals are planned on five Mondays. The 8th century temple, which submerged in 1981 after construction of Srisailam dam, surfaced only in 2003 for the first time. Mahasivaratri was celebrated at the temple in 2003, 2004 and 2005 when 100,000 pilgrims gathered at the venue.

Sangameswara temple has great significance because of its antiquity and location. Bhavanasi, seventh tributary of Krishna, joins the river here. Also, the river flows northwards (Uttaravahini) here which is considered auspicious.

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LONDON, ENGLAND, April 2, 2008: Jay Lakhani, Head of the Hindu Academy and Education Director for the Hindu Council UK, has been appointed to the post of part time Hindu Tutor at Eton College. Mr Lakhani’s role will be to provide pastoral support and religious teaching to Hindu boys at the school, and contribute to school inter-faith activities. Because religion plays an important role at Eton, all boys are expected to take part in weekday chapel services. For many years Jewish boys have been able to take instruction from a Jewish Tutor during Sunday Chapel and, for the last four years, the College has had a Muslim Tutor to offer the same service to Muslim boys. The appointment of Jay Lakhani’s means Hindu boys will now be offered the same choice.

The series of events leading to Mr Lakhani’s appointment began when the Head of Divinity, Michael Wilcockson, met Jay at a conference for Religious Education teachers earlier this year. “I asked him to give a talk on science and Hinduism to our philosophy society, which so impressed the Hindu boys, they asked if they could have him as their Hindu Tutor,” explains Mr Wilcockson. “I thought this was an excellent idea, feeling Jay would fit in superbly with our Jewish and Muslim Tutors because his views on other faiths are so inclusive. He is always intellectually robust, which Tutors have to be here, and passionate about his own faith tradition. I approached the Provost and the Head Master, who were equally supportive of the idea, and so Jay is to hold his first session here on Sunday 20th April.”

Mr Lakhani, who is also a Director of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, says of his appointment: - “I see this as an exciting opportunity to explore a broader vision of spirituality with the boys at Eton College, particularly how the Hindu idea of spiritual humanism manages to reconcile differences between religious and secular world-views. Religious pluralism offers the best prescription for making religions once again the cohesive force in our society. It is wonderful to see Eton College embracing these wider aspects of personal and spiritual development.”

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DEHRA DUN, INDIA, March 31, 2008: With alarm bells ringing over the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, the Uttarakhand Government has decided to regulate tourist flow to the protected areas of Gangotri National Park, including Gomukh.

The Government would now restrict the number of tourists visiting the origin of the holy river Ganga to 150 per day. The new regulations would come into effect from the next season beginning in April, said Chief Forest Conservator of Uttarakhand B. S. Barfal. According to officials, on a single day in the annual Kanwad season (July-August), nearly 3,000 devotees of Lord Shiva visit the area, causing ecological concerns. The entry of mules and horses has also been banned in Gangotri area, Barfal said. To discourage tourists from visiting Gangotri regularly, the entry fee is also being raised.

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Parents must teach children to appreciate those who are different, those who believe differently; teach them the openness that they need to live in a pluralistic world where others have their unique ways, their life and culture; teach them the value of human diversity and the narrow-mindedness of a provincial outlook; give them the tools to live in a world of differences without feeling threatened, without forcing their ways or their will on others; teach them that it never helps to hurt another of our brothers or sisters.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today