desai@connect.com.fj FIJI, August 12, 2005: Hasmukh Desai & family of Fiji sent the following explanation of the upcoming Raksha Bandhan festival: Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the full-moon day in the month of Sravana (July-August – This year on 19th Aug). The festival of Raksha Bandhan symbolizes love, affection and the feeling of brotherhood. On this day, sisters tie an…
www.pib.nic.in DELHI, INDIA, August 10, 2005: The Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri E. Ahmed informed the Lok Sabha about the details of subsidy and other facilities which are being provided by Union Government, at present, for pilgrims visiting various religious shrines abroad. In summary, for the Hindu Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, the government pays pays US$73 for each pilgrim…
www.nytimes.com BANGALORE, INDIA, August 9, 2005: This summer, Omar Maldonado and Erik Simonsen, both students at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, did something different. Bypassing internship opportunities on Wall Street, just a subway ride away from their Greenwich Village campus, they went to India to spend the summer at an outsourcing company in Gurgaon,…
www.local6.com FLORIDA, USA, August 9, 2005: Authorities in Seminole County, Fla., are investigating vandalism at a Hindu temple and a nearby church, according to a police report. Detectives said vandals damaged a Hindu Society of Central Florida temple located on Lake Drive over the weekend. The vandals wrote on the walls, damaged some statues and poured paint into shoes left…
www.newindpress.com BHOPAL, INDIA, August 10, 2005: Snake charmers in Madhya Pradesh will not be able to practise their age-old profession with a ban on carrying or displaying the reptiles due to come into effect on the eve of the Hindu festival of Nag Panchami. Snakes are worshipped by devotees during the festival that falls on Wednesday. It’s the chance for…
Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, August 9, 2005: Thousands of fans are expected to watch Jonny Moseley and other snowboarders and skiers soar off a ski jump and fly over city streets later this month. Ice Air 2005, scheduled for August 27, will put 12,000 cubic feet of snow – 250 tons of the white stuff – in San Francisco’s…
Religion News Service LONDON, UK, August 9, 2005: To help combat terrorism, the British government is proposing an enormous expansion of the number of Muslim schools within its state sector, a London newspaper has reported. The Sunday Telegraph report says that the government is thinking of creating up to 150 Muslim schools within the state sector in an attempt to…
HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, August 9, 2005: We received several responses to our request for temple by-laws. There are several available on the web: Nebraska Temple, here; Calgary Temple, here; Hindu Temple of Arizona, here; and Kentucky Hindu Temple, here. None of these has been evaluated for “recommendation,” only given as examples. There is an account, here, of the difficulties…
HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, April 9, 2005: The following paper was prepared under the direction of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami for the Dharma Summit 2005. It is intended to serve as a template model for Hindu Temples in the US to follow in conveying to the publish what tradition their temple follows. Bodhinatha advocates that each temple clearly define five points:…
netohm_ahac@yahoo.com WASHINGTON D.C, August 6, 2005: Members of HSC (Hindu Students Council and NetOHM (Network of Hindu Minds) spent a day in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2005, participating in a youth conference and engaging US lawmakers on issues of importance to the Hindu community in America. Participating in the youth seminar at the 9th Annual Legislative conference organized by…