HPI NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 25, 2006: Pandit Ananda Shankar Vyas of Ujjain announces the following dates for the ardha (“half,” the sixth year between the main 12 year cycle) and purna (the 12th year event). He is a Vedic scholar, astrologer and priest of international repute. He was a member of the governing body of Mahakal temple in Ujjain…
www.asianews.it BHUTAN, February, 23, 2006: HPI Note: This report comes from a Catholic news service: Bhutanese authorities are describing the launching of nationwide satellite TV services as a landmark in the history of electronic media in the tiny Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom. Minority groups see it however as a tool to entrench Buddhist cultural hegemony over the country and keep other…
www.newkerala.com BHOPAL, INDIA, February 24, 2006: People in Bhopal have decided to make 10.25 million Shivlingams for the forthcoming Maha Sivaratri festival. Unlike normal Sivalingams that are made of stone, those being made at Bhopal are from dhoop or, incense. Hundreds of devotees in Bhopal are organizing a Maharudra Yajna at Dasharat, people are making the Sivalingam from pure desi…
www.gorkhapatra.org.np KATHMANDU, NEPAL, February 23, 2006: The Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has made special arrangement for providing necessary services to the devotees thronging the Pashupatinath temple on the occasion of Mahasivaratri festival. The Trust has specified various points for the devotees to enter the temple on February 26, the day of Mahasivaratri. Accordingly, the devotees can enter Pashupatinath from…
www.zeenews.com TIRUPATI, INDIA, February 23, 2006: In view of Mahasivaratri on February 26, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to distribute at least five hundred thousand pocket books of Sivanama Stotram and Siva Stuti free to the visiting devotees at all Siva temples and other temples under the purview of TTD. Local temples deputy executive officer K. Chitha Ranjan had…
www.hindustantimes.com LONDON, ENGLAND, February 22, 2006: The fear that faith schools lead to segregation has led leaders of major faiths to issue a statement that they should teach pupils about other religions as well as their own. Religious leaders have signed a declaration backing the teaching of not only their own religion, but an awareness of the “tenets” of other…
Paras Ramoutar HYDERABAD, INDIA, February 20, 2006: HPI note: Paras Ramoutar of Trinidad gives his impressions and thoughts on the conference: Twenty-five hundred Indians from approximately 90 countries participated in the Fourth Pravasi Bharitya Diwas (Global Indian Dispora) held at the sprawling Hyderabad International Convention Centre, January 7 to 9, in Andra Pradesh. Throughout the three-day conference, there were roundtable…
www.pib.nic.in DELHI, INDIA, February 23, 2006: There is no threat to the structural stability of the temple, however, there is some distress at lower most row of the superstructure. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Ambika Soni in a reply to a question by S/Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Nikhil Kumar and Rewati Raman Singh in Lok…
www.hinduvoice.co.uk MALIBU, CALIFORNIA, January 31, 2006: HPI note: While this item is a bit old, the Hindu Voice report is the first to contain any details at all. The entertainment press has commented scathingly on the pop singer’s visit to the temple. Some reports even have the temple priest mentioned below, Samundrala, identified as her “guru,” even though he was…
www.hinduvoice.co.uk LONDON, ENGLAND, February 19, 2006: HPI note: The second issue of the on-line magazine Hindu Voice carried this inspiring story titled, “Hinduism on the London Underground” by Ritesh Jigani: Standing on a packed train on the way home from university, I was feeling terrible. It had been a hard week, I was annoyed with several colleagues, the train had…