SourceWAHIAWA, OAHU, HAWAII, MARCH 25, 2005: The Gods sometimes make themselves known in unexpected places. In this instance, the situation has left adherents of two different religious traditions struggling for a way they all can worship in peace. Enshrined stones on California Avenue are venerated by some Hawaiians as healing stones, and by some Hindus as earthly representations of Siva.…
SourceSUVA, FIJI, March 27, 2005: Christians can only accept other religions in Fiji if their right of worship is not enshrined in the Constitution, the Methodist Church in Fiji says. The most powerful of all Christian denominations in the country, the church was reacting to statements by Vice President and acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi on Good Friday at a…
SourceSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, March 31, 2005: (HPI Note: This report is from deseretnews.com, which is associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as LDS Church or the Mormons.) “Anti-conversion” legislation in Sri Lanka could target missionaries and faith-based humanitarian aid workers, according to The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Among the faith-based groups affected…
SourceNEW DELHI,INDIA, March 26, 2005 : Millions of people in large parts of India Saturday celebrated the Holi festival with music, dance and delicacies to herald the arrival of spring. In the capital, men, women and children took a break from their everyday chores to boisterously join the celebrations by smearing colored powder on each other amid shouts of “Holi…
Paras RamoutarTRINIDAD/TOBAGO, March 24, 2005: Swami Prakashananda has called on the people of Trinidad and Tobago to make decisions based on righteousness. He made this call upon his arrival from India and England. In India, he was initiated as a swami at the Chinmaya Mission in Mumbai. He is Trinidad’s third indigenous swami. “We must make decisions based on dharma…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, March 27, 2005: Till now it was believed that the number of ancient texts and treaties lying neglected and unseen across the country was one to two million. But officials at the National Mission for Manuscripts were taken aback when they launched a survey. They found a staggering five million manuscripts after their pilot survey in three…
SourceKOLKATA, INDIA, March 23, 2005: West Bengal’s communist-led government is moving to fight a proliferation of television programs on astrology and feng shui. An assortment of astrologers and soothsayers are seen on Bengali TV channels, and their programs are believed to have a large following. Viewers call into these interactive programs to learn their fate and future. “This hypocrisy has…
SourceRIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, March 29,2004: Saudi religious police have destroyed a clandestine makeshift Hindu temple in an old district of Riyadh and deported three worshippers found there, a newspaper reported yesterday. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or religious police, on Thursday stumbled across a room converted into a temple while raiding a…
SourceTIRUPATI, INDIA, March 27, 2007: A heavy rush of pilgrims on Saturday forced the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to modify their darshan procedures, something that has never happened in the temple’s history. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams sources said the new rule was applied due to the sheer pressure of the pilgrims. (“Darshan” means the viewing of the main Deity by the…
SourceBATU GAJAH, MALAYSIA, March 27, 2005: Glittering chariots, carrying the statues of three Hindu deities, marked the colorful celebration of the Pangguni Uthiram festival beneath the glow of a full moon here on Friday night. Despite a delay of two hours caused by a downpour, thousands of devotees rushed to pay homage to the deities – Lord Ganesha, his brother…