in.news.yahoo.com THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, February 7, 2008: Kerala’s government has sought the Supreme Court’s permission to allow all women to enter the Sabarimala temple, in places where they are not usually allowed. The temple, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa and located in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, bars entry of women between the ages 10 and 50 — those in menstruating age — following…
www.nytimes.com THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, February 5, 2008: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to transcendental meditation, died Tuesday at his home in the Dutch town of Vlodrop, a spokesman said. He was thought to be 91 years old. “He died peacefully at about 7 p.m.,” said Bob Roth, a spokesman for the Transcendental Meditation…
us.rediff.com NEW YORK, USA, February 5, 2008: It would seem Sanskrit has become the flavor of the month in some parts of the United States. Last week, a two-day Sanskrit seminar, the first of its kind in Nevada, concluded in Reno. Earlier this month, the Gayatri Mantra from the Rig Veda, hymns from Taittiriya Upanishad and shlokas from the Bhagvad…
www.hinduonnet.com KOLKATA, INDIA, February 5, 2008: Thousands of Japanese citizens, from the age of 5 to 90 years, now regularly practice Yoga to keep their body fit and live a better life. Yoga exponent in Japan and founder/director of Ghosh Yoga Institute, Jibananda Ghosh, said besides the average Japanese, sportspersons in the land of rising sun were enamored about the…
www.ipsnews.net KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 4, 2008: A new political force — Hindu activism — has emerged in multi-ethnic Malaysia affecting elections this year. Across the country, Indian Tamils are mobilizing under the banner of Hinduism in a wide awakening, protesting against alleged socio-economic neglect. Much of the new ferment is visible in the hundreds of Hindu temples where working…
www.hinduismtoday.com ORISSA, INDIA, February 4, 2008: (From Religious News Service) With a strong presence in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district, Maoists are suspected of using the recent violent events in the area to their advantage, recruiting Indians who are frustrated and hurt by the recent clashes between Hindus and Christian proselytizers. Extreme Marxist groups, among them Maoists, may find affected areas…
www.dnaindia.com THANE, INDIA, February 3, 2008: Two ancient temples, one of them a Shiva temple and the other not yet identified, have been found by the villagers at Gunj, Maharashtra. It was during the visit to nearby Parshuram temple on the hillock the villagers stumbled on these two abandoned and ruined temples. The villagers claimed that the temple originally belonged…
www.nation.lk COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, February 3, 2008: The Visa Section of the British High Commission in Sri Lanka will be closed, and the High Commission will stop issuing visas from April 1. Instead, any Sri Lankans wishing to travel to the United Kingdom will have to obtain visas from the Mission in Chennai, India. “The Colombo office will continue to…
www.frontlineonnet.com ELLORA, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, February 3, 2008: The site of Ellora, on the outskirts of the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra, witnessed the grand culmination of more than a thousand years of the rock-cutting tradition. From the 6th century A.D. up to the 10th century A.D., the last man-mad caves for the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths were created. One…
www.denverpost.com DENVER, CO, USA, January 31, 2008: I spent Sunday morning watching 90 yoga devotees bending themselves into shapes so feline that I pulled three muscles and jammed a knee just watching. On this morning, members of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, a social and cultural organization, were there to observe an ancient ritual called the Surya Namaskar — Sanskrit for…