specials.washingtonpost.com WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2007: The Washington Post has inaugarated a new series of short video interviews with people of the community. One of the first is of Maragatham Ramaswamy, a carnatic music singer and teacher. The introduction reads, “She sings to teach, she sings to heal, she sings to feel happy and commune with God. Singing is her…
www.indiaenews.com HIMACHAL, INDIA, March 1, 2007: As many as 151 Dalits who had once converted to Christianity have returned to the Hindu fold after a religious ritual in a temple here. “One hundred and fifty-one Christians have become Hindus again after an elaborate Hindu ceremony carried out in a Shimla temple on Wednesday,” said Tarsem Bharti, chairman of the All…
www.askasia.org USA, March 1, 2007: HPI Note: We came across this fascinating essay on the history of India with regard to world trade. It is on an educational website called AskAsia. Following are some excerpts from this one resource on the site: “Consumers in most major cities of the world can buy Indian jewelry and clothing. This statement is true…
www.anglicanjournal.com TORONTO, CANADA, March 1, 2007: Some Ontario churches, temples and mosques have pledged to work together to reduce the energy consumption in their places of worship with the help of Faith & the Common Good (FCG) and Green Communities Canada (GCC). The two non-profit organizations dedicated to environmental concerns recently met with representatives from various faith communities to plan…
www.indiaenews.com KATHMANDU,, NEPAL, February 28, 2007: (HPI note: The “sons of soil” reported on here are the indigenous tribal people of Nepal. They were previously allied with the Maoists, but now that the Maoists have opted for peace, and failed to deliver on their promises to the tribals, more conflict appears to be at hand. For more background on this…
www.insidebayarea.com SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, February 28, 2007: (HPI note: This is a long and insightful article on arranged marriages among Indians in the San Francisco Bay Area.) In India, the Middle East and some parts of Africa, arranged marriages remain the predominant way to bring together couples who share the same religious, cultural or tribal background.Accepting a marriage partner selected…
www.hindustantimes.com KOLKATA, INDIA, February 27, 2007: They live in the heart of a cacophonous megapolis but the music they make smells of the soil of rural Bengal in all its sylvan splendor. Walk down a narrow south Kolkata lane of Jadavpur to meet the happening baul couple of Utpal Fakir and Sahajma whose impassioned “Allah Meherban Khuda, Khuda Meherban” took…
search.bbc.co.uk LONDON, ENGLAND, February 27, 2007: This URL has four short videos on Hinduism posted in 2006 and 2007: the Ardh Kumbh Mela, vegetarianism, Hindu teaching in school and a Hindu businessman on his religion. The vegetarianism video is quite effective for a simple production. It was made by the youth group of the Dudley Mandir. Teaching Hinduism in school…
www.hinduvoice.co.uk LONDON, ENGLAND, February 27, 2007: Anish Shah analyses the psychology behind the widespread tendency of many Hindu-inspired spiritual or yoga groups to vehemently deny any connections with Hinduism: When I was asked to write this article for Hindu Voice, I struggled to think of how I could start it off. So I’ll start with a conversation I had a…
www.earthtimes.org HYDERABD, INDIA, February 22, 2007: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages India’s richest temple at Tirumala, Thursday sponsored marriages of over 5,000 couples. TTD organized kalyanamastu (mass marriages) in all headquarters of 294 assembly constituencies with an aim to strengthening Hindu religion, especially Hindu marriage system and to help the poor Hindu families perform the marriages of their…