HPI WASHINGTON D.C., June 25, 2007: Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain living in Nevada, is scheduled to give a Hindu prayer at the July 12 opening of United States Senate in Washington, DC. It is believed this will be the first time any Hindu prayer will have been delivered in the US Senate since its formation in 1789. According to…
www.myfriendganesha.com INDIA, June 22, 2007: The movie “My Friend Ganesha,” a combination of live actors and animation about to be released in India, revolves around a family of four and their maid. The boy, an only child, is often lonely. One day he saves a mouse from drowning and brings it home. The maid explains that the mouse is Lord…
www.indiaenews.com SOUTH AFRICA, June 04, 2007: Hindu groups in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province are being starved of funds by the province’s arts and cultural department allegedly on racial grounds, says this article. The organizations are claiming that the art department has sidelined them and most of the grants-in aid have gone to the African bodies in recent years. “In…
www.nytimes.com JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, June 15, 2007: The nights here are once again broken by artillery fire across the black lagoon. The road out of this peninsula has been closed since last August, making the area nearly inaccessible. Though food and fuel manage to arrive, shopkeepers are reluctant to keep stocks, not knowing when they may have to close up…
www.formi9.com UNITED STATES, June 23, 2007: Hindu temples in America employing priests or others under the R-1 “Religious Worker” visa should be aware that they need to keep an “I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Document” for each one. This document establishes that the employee is in the US and working for the employer in a proper immigration status. The form can…
www.dailypioneer.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 21, 2007: Banning of coconut at Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple is creating a ripple effect. The popular Kalkaji Temple in the Capital is all set to impose a ban on coconut besides intensifying security measures. Sai Baba and Jhandewalan Temples’ management have already banned coconut in the sanctum sanctorum. At the famous Hanuman Temple located at…
www.telegraphindia.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, June 20, 2007: Beads of sweat form on priest Vedantacharya’s forehead as he struggles to pronounce the words on the sheet before him. “Hi, how do you do?” he chants as if reciting a Sanskrit shloka. “Good morning, nice to meet you.” Knowledge of the Vedas and Sanskrit are no longer enough for ambitious priests in Andhra…
www.pib.nic.in PUNE, INDIA, June 21, 2007: The Rig Veda manuscripts from Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, have been selected for inscription in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” Register 2007. The program for the Memory of the World was started in UNESCO fifteen years back to honor significant landmarks in the documentary heritage and record them in its “Memory of the…
timesofindia.indiatimes.com INDIA, June 22, 2007: (HPI note: Following is an opinion piece by Ronojoy Sen.) Who would have thought that temple entry would be on the front pages of newspapers nearly 70 years after temples were thrown open to Hindus of all castes for the first time in Travancore. The restrictions on non-Hindus in Guruvayur wouldn’t have become national news…