Source: beta.thehindu.com

THANJAVUR, INDIA, January 21, 2010: The School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu has called for a combined study and view of the four all stone temples built by Chola kings at Thanjavur, Darasuram, Thirubuvanam and Gangaikonda Cholapuram.

Inaugurating a two-day seminar organised by the Archaeological Survey of India here to commemorate the 1000th year of Brahadeeswara temple, the Minister said that the Brahadeeswara temple should not be seen in isolation. It should be viewed and studied along with temples of it’s like in this region. “These four temples are really great temples which offer new things every time a tourist visited them”, the Minister said. He appealed to the ASI and tourism department to take steps to bring the four temples in the tourist map of India.

Brahadeeswara temple at Thanjavur is not a mere architectural marvel but a temple that had societal connections. King Raja Raja Cholan who built the temple has said this in the inscription he made in the temple. He speaks about the contribution made by the people for construction of the temple after speaking about his and sister’s contribution.

Source: beta.thehindu.com

INDIA, January 20, 2010: The portals of Badrinath temple, situated in Garhwal Himalayas at an altitude of 10,278 ft, will be reopened on May 19. The date of the reopening was announced at Narendra Nagar palace by the Raj Purohit on the occasion of Basant Panchami.

The portals of Badrinath shrine were closed for the winter period on November 19 during which time the statues of Lord Badri, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, were carried to Narsimha Mandir in Joshimath area for the wintry sojourn.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

BEIJING, CHINA, January 26, 2010: China’s official media is promoting what it describes as the first pop singer who sings in Sanskrit. She is one of the singers being considered to sign at the inauguration of the World Expo in Shanghai next May.

Sa Dingding, who won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the Asia Pacific category in 2008, is suddenly being promoted by the provincial government of Tibet. The provincial government has indicated it wants to reshape her image and get her to focus on Sanskrit singing. Sa, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts run by the People’s Liberation Army, sings in the language of Inner Mongolia, Tibetan and in Sanskrit.

Sa is not a Tibetan although she dresses in grandiose Tibetan clothing. The official site went on to say that “Her musical inspirations all come from Chinese civilization and culture.”

Source: lite.epaper.timesofindia.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 18, 2010: Buddhist Lama and photographer: not the most common combination. American-born Nicholas Vreeland has been a monk for 25 years at Karnatakas Rato Dratsang monastery. He is showing 20 of his India photographs at India International Center Annex as part of the Photos for Rato exhibition from January 13 to 18, to help raise funds for the monastery.

When Vreeland joined the reconstructed monastery at Mundgod, it had a small temple and was home to 12 monks. Now there are 120. They need $500,000 for new buildings and money raised from selling Vreeland’s photo prints will go into the building fund. For the exhibition he has chosen 20 photos from the hundreds he’s taken after becoming a monk. The photos can be seen here.

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

At this time in the Kali Yuga, ignorance is equally distributed worldwide, and wisdom has become an endangered species.
   Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001)