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MUMBAI, INDIA, April 28, 2008: The muddy Gavdevi ground at Shimpoli in Borivli (West) was sprinkled with saffron and green on Sunday. In the presence of Narendra Maharaj, chief of the Ramanandcharya Peeth of Nanij in the Konkan, hundreds of men and women, most of them tribals, converted to Hinduism. This is the first such event in the city, and part of the peeth’s massive re-conversion movement started two years ago. Women were clad in green and men wore white dhotis, while the volunteers donned saffron. Those who converted included recently married couples and families from the tribal interiors of Thane and Nashik district. Many men had their heads shaved for the ceremony. Items for the mass ceremony were placed on banana leaves. A four-hour long sacred ritual was carried out to “purify” them, after which they were accepted as Hindus.

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PUDUKOTTAI, INDIA, April 28, 2008: A historical temple in Pudukottai is threatening to collapse with the growth of a huge tree right on the vimanam of the sanctum sanctorum. The strong roots of the tree have penetrated deep into all gaps in the walls of the Sri Umapathiswarar Temple.

Six inscriptions on the outer walls of the temple give minute details about its construction. One of the inscriptions says that a trader of Aruvimanagar, who settled in Sattanur village, built the temple in 1213 AD.Another inscription furnishes the details of the boundary of lands donated to the temple by ancient rulers during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Local residents said that despite repeated pleas neither the Archaeological Survey of India nor the state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department was coming forward to take up temple renovation.

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The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so.
   Renunciate sannyasini Ma Yoga Shakti Saraswati, has taught yoga and dharma worldwide for over thirty years