Kerala Siva Temples
By VRINDAVANAM S. GOPALAKRISHNAN Two thousand and more timber temples dot Kerala’s verdant landscape. Devotee’s devotion have created them in […]
Puja: With Honor, Offer Everything
BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR Honoring is a sign of divine love. That honoring is called puja. The ceremony of
Against All Odds
By ANIL MAHABIR, TRINIDAD Sewdass Sadhu was born to poverty-stricken parents in India on January 1, 1903. Yet he was
Nepal’s Virgin Goddesses
The ancient practice of Kumari worship is vigorously alive today, deep in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. A young virgin girl, Kumari,
By Cosmic Design
By DEVA RAJAN From January 25 to 29 more than 300 delegates and observers participated in the World Meet on
Sacred Pilgrimage
Five duties, called pancha kriya, form the traditional minimal practices expected of every Hindu: upasana (worship); utsava (holy days); dharma
Court OK’s Takeover
A January decision by India’s Supreme Court validated the 1988 government takeover of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in
Rudraksha Chariot Reborn
BY CHOODIE SHIVARAM, BANGALORE The rudraksha-covered chariot of Vaidyeswara temple in Talkad (near Mysore) ventured out in procession for the
Sacred Psychiatry
By VRINDAVANAM S. GOPAIAKRISHNAN My wife developed mental problems when she was pregnant in 1965. All types of treatment, from
When not in Rome . . .
By VRINDAVANAM S. GOPALAKRISHNAN Peter Julia came to India from Spain in 1948 as a 23-year-old Jesuit priest. Today, at