krishnakumari@vsnl.net THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, January 2, 2005: Two powerful community organizations of the Hindu fold in Kerala, the Nair Service Society (NSS) and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), have sharply differed over the issue of appointment of non-brahmins as temple priests. While the NSS held that appointment of non-brahmins as priests would dilute the long-held customs and traditions of…
www.hindu.com SOUTHWEST RANCHES, FLORIDA, December 12, 2005: Another milestone for Hindus in America took place in December with the opening of the South Florida 10,000-square-foot Hindu Temple in Southwest Ranches. Nine Deities were ceremoniously installed with elaborate pujas. One thousand Hindus attended the event. The temple is expected to serve 70,000 Hindus in the South Florida area. Rajendra Gupta, one…
www.barnard.edu ELMHURST, QUEENS, NEW YORK, December 17, 2005: Puja Swami Jagdishwaranandaji of The Geeta Temple and Divya Dham, Queens, New York, has attain Maha Samadhi at age 70. The Geeta Temple has arranged a Shradhanjali for Puja Swami Jagdishwarananda ji on Friday, December 30, 10AM—1PM. The Geeta Temple Ashram in Elmhurst, Queens owes its existence to the lives touched by…
batu_caves@yahoo.com KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 29, 2005: The unveiling ceremony of the 140-foot-tall Murugan Statue, the world’s tallest will be held on January 29, 2006. The opening ceremony will commence at 7.30pm with stunning performance of fireworks and showering of thousands of garlands of flowers on the Sri Murugan Statue from a helicopter arranged specially for the event.
www.zwire.com TORONTO, CANADA, December 22, 2005: Infighting at a Richmond Hill Hindu temple over who has legitimate control and suspicions over shady finances have led to regular disruptions of worship, two court cases and the freezing of the temple’s bank account. Two groups in the Maha Lakshmi Mandir temple, one headed by priest and President Swasti Dubey and the other…
office@hinducounciluk.org LONDON, ENGLAND, December 19, 2005: (HPI note: The following is a press release from the UK Home Office which covers in more detail the new visa category previously reported) New provisions designed to help strike a better balance between helping faith communities find suitably qualified religious workers while maintaining robust immigration controls were announced today by the Home Office.…
Press Trust of India KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 28, 2005: An ethnic Indian was on Wednesday buried according to Islamic rites after the Malaysian High Court rejected his Hindu widow’s claim over his body, saying the Shariat court has ruled he was a Muslim. The body of 36-year-old M. Moorthy, who was part of Malaysia’s 1997 team which scaled Mount…
info@hindusangam.org.my KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 26, 2005: Datuk A. Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam writes: The Malaysia Hindu Sangam expresses its very great disappointment and sadness on the failure of Madam Kaliammal in her efforts to seek relief in the Civil High Court. We are concerned that the present laws give plenty of protection to the Muslim community…
news.webindia123.com LONDON, UK, December 15, 2005: The Tony Blair Government has recently announced that it will provide close to US$17 Million for the construction of the first-ever Hindu faith school in the country. The primary school will be ready for pupils within the next five years. The news about the school has been received with great enthusiasm by the Hindu…
info@hinduamericanfoundation.org PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, December 20, 2005: On November 16, 2005, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) jointly organized a program at Stanford University entitled “Countering Biases Against Hindus And Jews On The College Campus: The Who, What, and When of Responses to Hostile and Intimidating Rhetoric and Behavior in the Classroom.” Professor Ramdas Lamb,…