timesofindia.indiatimes.com EDMONTON, CANADA, September 22, 2007: Four statues of Lord Ganesha, including one depicting the elephant-god in the nude, are being removed from an exhibition in the Canadian city of Edmonton after protests by Hindus who called them “disrespectful.” Ryan McCourt’s sculptures, which have been on display for 10 months, were put up at the Shaw Conference Centre under a…
www.canada.com EDMONTON, CANADA, September 19, 2007: (HPI note: this is an earlier article on the sculptures.) Mayor Stephen Mandel wants four sculptures outside the Shaw Conference Centre taken away immediately after local Hindu leaders complained they’re disrespectful of one of their faith’s beloved gods The works by Edmonton artist Ryan McCourt use castoff industrial material to depict the elephant-headed Ganesha…
www.nytimes.com WASHINGTON, U.S., September 26, 2007: Facing pressure from religious groups, civil libertarians and members of Congress, the federal Bureau of Prisons has decided to return religious materials that had been purged from prison chapel libraries because they were not on the bureau’s list of approved resources. The bureau had said it was prompted to remove the materials after a…
www.hindu.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, September 26, 2007: The majestic procession of Ganesh Nimajjanam, with thousands of Deities of all sizes from old city to Hussainsagar, was marked with devotion, fervor, camaraderie and innovation. But, not to be missed was also the palpable feeling of unease and unspoken fear of the unknown early in the day, on Tuesday. The unprecedented presence of…
www.anandagalleria.com USA, September 27, 2007: The producers of the coffee-table book “Hindu Temples in North America” are having a clearance sale on the book as they prepare a second volume. The US$100 book is being sold for just $20, shipping (USA only) and handling included. They provide this description: “This book is a treat for any connoisseur of Art and…
www.nytimes.com SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, September 27, 2007: (HPI note: The original article at URL above contains a satellite photo of the building.) The Navy plans to spend $600,000 for “camouflage” landscaping and rooftop adjustments so that 1960s-era barracks at the Naval Base Coronado near San Diego will no longer look like a Nazi swastika from the air. The resemblance went…
www.earthtimes.org BERLIN, GERMANY, September 24, 2007: Germany’s biggest Hindu temple is to be built in a Berlin park, according to plans announced in the German capital on Monday. Construction work on the temple dedicated to the elephant-headed deity Ganesha is due to begin on October 28 at Hasenheide in the suburb of Neukoelln. The local mayor, Heinz Buschkowsky, handed over…
newsblaze.com BHUTAN, September 23, 2007: It’s democracy for some as Bhutan refuses to allow more than 100,000 Bhutanese Hindu refugees to return home. While the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has been winning strokes across the world for its abdicating king’s voluntary decision to bequeath democracy to his subjects, the dark side is the 100,000 Bhutanese refugees, in neighboring Nepal…
www.hafsite.org WASHINGTON, D.C., September 17, 2007: United States lawmakers and influential Hindu Americans shared the dais at the annual Capitol Hill reception hosted in Washington, D.C. last week by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). For the fourth consecutive year, leaders of the foundation and nearly 150 supporters gathered under the rotunda of the United States Capitol building capping a day…
infinityfoundation.com NEW JERSEY, September 18, 2007: Infinity Foundation announced the release of “Emerson and the Light of India, An Intellectual History” by Robert Gordon. The Foundation provided the following overview of this and a related book on TS Eliot. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first American to pioneer the serious exploration of Indian philosophy, and as his own thinking grew…