www.deccanherald.com MAURITIUS, February 25, 2006: When the Siva temples in India echo with the chaste chants of “Om Namo Sivaih” and ardent devotees make a beeline at Sivalingams all over the country to offer their prayers on the occasion of Sivaratri, the beautiful island of Mauritius too resounds with the devotional notes of “Bam Bam Bhole.” Thousands of worshippers prefer…
www.newkerala.com JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, February 26, 2006: Chanting prayers, Hindu youths took part in an annual procession ahead of the Sivaratri festival in the South African Indian township of Lenasia near here. The procession drew a crowd of more than 2,500 devotees. At each of the six Hindu temples along the eight-kilometer route in Lenasia, devotees welcomed the procession with…
www.tamilnet.com COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, February 25, 2006; Maha Sivarathiri Day religious observance is to be held in the historic Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple, Thiruketheeswaram Temple in Mannar and Kantalai Choleeswaram (Siva) Temple, about 20 km southwest off Trincomalee town on February 26th Sunday night . Arrangements are being made by the temple societies and Hindu Affairs Department, sources said. Koneswaram, Thiruketheeswaram…
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…