www.miami.com BOMBAY, INDIA, May 27, 2006: As this city of 16 million becomes the cosmopolitan main nerve of a booming Indian economy, real estate is increasingly intersecting with cuisine. More middle-class Indians are moving in, more of them are vegetarian, and the law is on their side. “Some people are very strict. They won’t sell to a non-vegetarian even if…
www.zeenews.com YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, May 27, 2006: The Borobudur Temple, the largest Buddhist monument on Earth, was not affected by the powerful earthquake today that left thousands dead, local officials said. A mass of forbidding black stone, Borobudur was built in the 7th century by the Javanese rulers of the Syailendra dynasty and is one of Indonesia’s most popular tourist attractions,…
www.gulf-times.com KATHMANDU, NEPAL, May 25, 2006: Nepal has been declared a secular state by the parliament of the multi-party government that King Gyanendra handed power over to in April of this year. The announcement has sparked protests by thousands of Nepalis who want Nepal to remain the world’s only Hindu kingdom. Shiva Patel, a resident of Birgunj, said, “More than…
www.balagokulam.org DENVER, COLORADO, May 28, 2006: The remarkably successful quiz contest “Kaun Banega Ramayan Expert” (KBRE) is helping to fuel the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh’s (HSS), continuing pursuit of excellence in youth leadership, Dharmic education and service to society as it continues along its path as one of USA’s leading Hindu youth organizations. The results of the KBRE contest were announced…
www.mysanantonio.com SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, May 13, 2006: Hinduism has more influence in American culture than its relatively small membership would suggest, said an American-born swami who visited San Antonio’s Hindu temple last week. “It’s more widespread than you’d think,” said Satguru Bodinatha Veylanswami, 63, publisher of Hinduism Today magazine and head of 20 monks at a monastery on Kauai, Hawaii.…
timesofindia.indiatimes.com VARANASI, INDIA, May 25, 2006: Think of Vedic gurukuls and the mind conjures up an image of a Hindu purohit (priest) chanting shlokas, his batuks (disciples) repeating in unison. Not anymore. Keeping pace with the introduction of computers at every level of education, Vedic studies have just gone hi-tech. Varanasi, the seat of Hindu learning, is now producing GenNext…
www.rediff.com INDIA, May 23, 2006: (HPI note: This editorial piece by journalist Francoise Gautier comes at a time when India’s policy of “reservations,” or affirmative action, to benefit lower classes has become a national issue.) Excerpts: At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public…
news.independent.co.uk PARIS, FRANCE, May 19, 2006: The wife of the Hindu God Siva, Shakti, decapitated in Cambodia in the 15th century, finally has Her head back, after it was discovered 500 years later on the other side of the world. A Paris museum dedicated to Asia, the Musee Guimet, is celebrating the implausible chain of events that reunited a divided…
www.samachar.com KATHMANDU, NEPAL, May 24, 2006: Hindu groups in Nepal, opposed to last week’s Parliamentary Declaration naming the country as a secular state, today blocked roads and shut down markets in the southern industrial town of Birgunj. The World Hindu Federation had made the call to close down the market in the town, an industrialist said. Transport services came to…
Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 24, 2006: “Dandi saints from all over India have started reaching Bilaspur, a town in the state of Chattisgarh in central India, for the venue Satchandi Mahayagna And All-India Saints Sammelan. While the mahayagna, a large-scale fire worship ceremony, has already begun on May 22, the saint sammelan (meeting) is scheduled to…