www.orlandosentinel.com DELAND, FLORIDA, February 6, 2007: For a while Monday afternoon, the tornado-ravaged 500 block of Beresford Road seemed like interfaith central. A team of five members of the Islamic Society of Central Florida’s disaster relief had just pulled in from Orlando and unloaded their chain saws and other equipment. They started helping the Rev. Bruce Hedgepeth of First Presbyterian…
www.iol.co.za SOUTH AFRICA, February 5, 2007: For thousands of Hindus 10 days of strict fasting ended on Sunday when the festival of Thai Poosam Kavady drew to a close. To mark the last day of the ritual, which was dedicated to Lord Muruga, devotees carried colorfully decorated kavadis on their shoulders during processions to local temples. Kavadis are heavy religious…
www.clicanoo.com REUNION, FRANCE, February 7, 2007: (HPI note: translated from the original French. The first paragraph is an introduction by the author.) With a suicide case every 40 minutes and more than 10,000 deaths every year, France is one of the industrialized countries largely affected by this phenomenon. A national debate this week calls for an urgent need to openly…
thestar.com.my KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 7, 2007: The mobs of crowd at Batu Caves and the weight of a wooden kavadi decorated with blue and purple trimmings had taken its toll on 10-year-old Kalaiarasi Moorthy. Her mother held her tightly at the arms and chanted, “Vel, Vel”, in encouragement. Her face was contorted in exhaustion, but Kalaiarasi echoed her mother’s…
Press Release UNITED STATES, February 1, 2007: Governor Brad Henry pronounced January 28, 2007 as “Yoga Awareness Day” for Oklahoma and Mayor Kathy Taylor did the same for her city, Tulsa. During the last two weeks, through the country from the San Francisco Bay area to Boston to Houston, mainstream Americans joined with Indian-Americans in learning about and performing the…
www.mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 6, 2007: Over a million Hindus fulfilled their vows and worshipped Lord Muruga at the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple in Batu Caves yesterday. This year’s Thaipusam festival, like many others before, also saw devotees carrying pots of milk, kavadis, or with their bodies pierced, making their way up the steps to the temple. The throbbing…
www.channelnewsasia.com SINGAPORE, February 2, 2007: Hindus in Singapore celebrated the annual festival of Thaipusam on Thursday in honor of Lord Subrahmanya (also known as Lord Murugan) who represents virtue, youth and power to Hindus and is the destroyer of evil. It is the statue of Lord Subrahmanya that is decorated with jewels and finery on the first day before Thaipusam…
www.nytimes.com NEW YORK, U.S.A., January 28, 2007: (HPI note: This is a short summary of a very long, complex article which while not advocating vegetarianism outright, makes a pretty good case for it.) The perplexing question of what we should eat to stay healthy has become even more confusing as scientists learn more and more about food and nutrients. Michael…
www.moneycontrol.com KERALA, INDIA, February 1, 2007: The Government of Kerala has passed an order eliminating the Travancore-Cochin Devaswom Act that was established over 50 years ago. The news report explains, “The ordinance is an attempt to curtail the powers of the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom boards, which manage most of the temples in Kerala. The decision comes in the wake…
www.newyorker.com NEW YORK, January 15, 2007: Tackling the history of vegetarianism, Tristram Stuart’s book called “The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times,” has been highlighted in this highly informative news report called “Vegetable Love.” Tracing vegetarianism back to the 1600’s when Sir Isaac Newton was criticized for refusing to eat a type of “blood…