news.monstersandcritics.com JAMMU, INDIA, December 27, 2006: A record 6.7 million pilgrims have visited the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir this year with nearly 25,000 devotees climbing the mountainous terrain every day despite snow, rains and sub-zero temperatures. “We have recorded the arrival of pilgrims at 6.7 million and with the rush increasing in the run up to New…
www.earth-auroville.com AUROVILLE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, January 1, 2007: (HPI note: a longer report and many photos of the temple are at URL above.) Sri Karneshwar Nataraja temple located on the beach at Pudhukuppam, 12 kilometers north of Auroville, was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh and his wife Smt. Yasho Rajya Lakshmi on September 30, 2006. Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman of…
www.nytimes.com NEW YORK, NEW YORK, December 27, 2006: (HPI note: The following item is from the editorial page of the New York Times — not the place you’d normally expect a anti-meat statement…) When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase…
www.hindu.com TIRUPATI, INDIA, December 31, 2006: As the time ticked in for the arrival of New Year, the flow of pilgrims into the temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala peaked up, even as VVIPs also continued to throng the temple. Some of the top dignitaries who reached Tirumala on Sunday were Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and two…
www.samachar.com DELHI, INDIA, December 31, 2006: Their ancestors crossed the seas to work in alien lands more than a couple of centuries ago. Now, their descendants have a chance to locate the place of origin of their forefathers and even meet their relatives in India. When people belonging to the Indian Diaspora come to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas…
news.bbc.co.uk SPAIN, December 29, 2006: The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city’s cathedral, a former mosque. The Cordoba mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral in the 13th Century after the city was conquered by King Ferdinand III in the war to drive the…
www.hindu.com LONDON, ENGLAND, December 27, 2006: In a break with tradition, Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas broadcast has featured footage of Europe’s largest Hindu Temple and Muslims praying in a mosque. In a broadcast that reflected the changing face of modern Britain, there were scenes of the opening of the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tividale in the West Midlands and also…
HPI LONDON, ENGLAND, December 30, 2006: In yesterday’s HPI, we reported that Chris McGovern, director of Englands History Curriculum Association, disputed a quote attributed to Winston Churchill calling Gandhi a “half-naked fakir.” While that definitely wasn’t a direct quote, it doesn’t seem to misrepresent the actual statement. Churchill said, “It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a…
HPI DELHI, INDIA, December 29, 2006: Several HPI readers have requested information on how to acquire the Om Namoh Shivay CD mentioned in the December 24 HPI. They can e-mail Shri Gurmeet Singh, gurmeet@intoday.com for marketing information or write Satish Babbar at satishbabbar@rediffmail.com.
HPI USA, December 29, 2006: HPI received a copy of something called the “Ten First Place Winners in the International Pun Contest.” With some research, it is our opinion that there was no such contest, but this clever set of puns should give you a laugh. For the wordplay challenged, we’ve include a list at the end of the punned…