INDIA, December 28, 2021 (MSN, by Savio Rodrigues): At the onset let me state this fact as clearly and as bluntly as possible: I am an Indian Christian. India is my motherland. And I am not a persecuted Christian in India. I read with intrigue the recent New York Times article, “Arrests, Beatings and Secret Prayers: Inside the persecution of…
INDIA, December 17, 2021 (Indian Express): Unesco’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on Wednesday put “Durga Puja in Kolkata” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Committee is meeting virtually in its 16th Session from December 13 to 18. Eric Falt, director of UNESCO New Delhi, said he was “confident…
JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, December 17, 2021 (Indian Express): Taking off their shirts and wearing traditional white veshtis, the bare-chested men, carrying trays laden with fruit and puja offerings, entered the temple. Nothing unusual because that’s the practice at the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, a temple near Jaffna in Sri Lanka. But the man who dressed as a devotee and led the…
TAMIL NADU, INDIA, December 15, 2021 (The Hindu): Beginning Monday (December 13), entry for devotees and tourists into the world-famous Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai shall be permitted only if they had taken the vaccine dose for Covid-19, said Joint Commissioner (HR&CE) Chelladurai on Sunday. The Tamil Nadu government had made it mandatory for people to get inoculated, especially,…
UNITED STATES, December 13, 2021 (Religion News, by Deepti Hajela): When Sushma Dwivedi started seriously thinking about performing wedding rites and other Hindu religious blessings in New York City and elsewhere, she knew who she needed to talk to — her grandmother. Together, they went through the mantras that are recited by pandits, the priests who perform Hindu religious rituals,…
UNITED STATES, December 15, 2021 (Press Release): Bhumi Global, an international, Hindu-based nonprofit committed to climate action that works in collaboration with the United Nations, is looking for interns to work alongside staff and volunteers to implement key facets of the organization’s programs and initiatives. Interns would get hands-on experience in Bhumi’s workstreams, including communications, operations, finance, development, strategic partnerships/outreach…
VARANASI, INDIA, December 13, 2021 (Outlook India): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor during his two-day visit to Varanasi. PM Modi is visiting Varanasi to inaugurate the first phase of the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. “At a special program in Kashi, the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham project will be inaugurated. This will add…
TIRUPATI, INDIA, December 9, 2021 (The Hindu): The nine-day annual Kartheeka Brahmotsavam at Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tiruchanur came to a grand close with the observance of Panchami Theertham on Wednesday. In view of COVID-19 restrictions, the event marking Her appearance was held in a makeshift pond and not in the regular Padma Sarovaram tank situated outside the temple,…
LONDON, ENGLAND, December 11, 2021 (Indian Express): An ancient Indian statue of a Goddess missing from a temple in Uttar Pradesh, presumed stolen over 40 years ago, will soon find its way back home to India after it was discovered in a garden in a country home in England. The Yogini, which refers to the divine feminine in Hinduism, dates…
INDIA, December 2, 2021 (Firstpost, by Francois Gautier): As Swami Vivekananda rightly said, “No nation can move forward unless it looks squarely at its own history.” However, what I have observed in India is that even now, after eight years of the BJP government, the education that is given to children is basically a British leftover. That is, you learn…