WASHINGTON, DC, March 27, 2026 (India West): The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has formally agreed to the repatriation of three significant antiquities to India after internal provenance research confirmed the items had been illegally removed from their original sites. The artifacts, which span several centuries of Indian religious artistry, include a ninth-century bronze of Shiva Nataraja, a 12th-century…
CAMBODIA,March 24, 2026 (ftn News): A massive, 1,000-year-old “Dancing Shiva” statue which was broken into more than 10,000 fragments decades ago, has been successfully restored in Cambodia, the culture ministry said. The 16.4 foot and seven-ton sculpture carved from a single block of sandstone – with 10 arms and five faces – dates back to the 10th century from the…
PREAH VIHEAR, CAMBODIA, March 24, 2026 (Temple Daily Telegram): It’s been three months since a ceasefire ended bitter border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand, but signs of combat are cut deep in this 11th-century Hindu temple atop a 1,722-foot cliff in the Dangrek Mountains. The neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been fighting over Preah Vihear temple on and off for…
SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA, March 23, 2026 (ASEAN): More than 30,000 tourists gathered at Angkor Wat on the morning of 22 March 2026 to witness the breathtaking equinox sunrise over the temple’s central tower. Visitors from across the globe came to experience the rare alignment of the sun with the temple’s main spire, a phenomenon that highlights the advanced astronomical and…
INDIA, March 20, 2026 (India Tribune): In a landmark recognition of Sanskrit scholarship and Hindu philosophy, Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Bhadreshdas Swami of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has been conferred the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2025 by the Government of India in the field of literature for his work Prasthanachatushtaye Brahmaghosha. Selected as the finest Sanskrit work in India,…
ABU DHABI, March 9, 2026 (Tribune India): The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Temple in Abu Dhabi said it will remain closed until further notice, as the Iran-Israel conflict has escalated into a major direct war involving the United States. On March 2, the temple said that the priests there continued to pray for the safety of the people.…
DEHRADUN/GAIRSAIN, INDIA, March 11, 2026 (News 9 Live): A major religious decision has been taken in Uttarakhand ahead of the Char Dham Yatra 2026 pilgrimage. The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has passed a resolution prohibiting the entry of non-Hindus into 47 temples under its jurisdiction, including the sacred shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath. The resolution was passed during the BKTC’s…
INDIA, March 9, 2026 (Swarajyamag): Is the Indian judiciary inadvertently supporting crypto-Christianity, where a convert to Christianity remains Hindu on paper in order to benefit from the various affirmative action programs of the government? A recent judgement of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court ruled that the mere presence of a Jesus statue or the symbol of the…
NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 3, 2026 (India West): As India prepared for Holi, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change turned the spotlight on nature-based colors, urging communities to celebrate without compromising health or the environment. The ministry conducted hands-on workshops across Eco Clubs nationwide, teaching students how to prepare natural Holi colors from everyday ingredients. In classrooms transformed…
INDIA, March 4, 2026 (RNS): Today is Holi, the prominent Hindu holiday recognized for its colorful celebrations. Across South Asia and its diaspora, revelers gather in large groups to throw colored powder at one another, dance to Bollywood hits and wash the pigment away with water guns and balloons. For many, Holi simply marks a farewell of winter and the…
