SourceELK POINT, SOUTH DAKOTA, USA, March 15, 2005: As far as Malathy Ramakrishnan knows, no immigrants from India live in Elk Point, a town of 1,800 people in the southeast corner of South Dakota. But that didn’t stop the Siouxland India Cultural Association from locating in the tiny hamlet. “We have a small community of Indians in this area that…
SourceVARANASI, INDIA, Mar 13, 2005: Exhibiting steely resolve, a devout Muslim woman has constructed a Lord Siva temple in this Hindu pilgrimage city as “ordained” by the God. “The Lord appeared in my dreams late last year and asked me to undertake the project,” Noor Fatmi, a widow and a practising lawyer, said. “Now my task has been accomplished, I…
The New Zealand HeraldMANUKAU CITY, NEW ZEALAND, March 21, 2005: A Sikh temple in Manukau City was the scene of a pioneering effort to bring races and faiths together at the weekend. Auckland leaders of Christian, Islam, Hindu, Baha’i, Sikh and Jewish religions shared the pulpit at the new Manurewa temple of the Sikh organisation Nanaksar Thath Isher Darbar. The…
SourceITHACA, NEW YORK, March 14, 2005: The sound of beating of dandiyas, and lively folk music resonated under a canopy of vibrant colors Friday evening in the Straight Memorial Room, where the Cornell Raas Team held its annual celebration of Spring Navratri. The evening began with an Indian prayer ceremony or puja, led by the Hindu Student Council, continued with…
SourceTEXAS, USA, February 25, 2005: When 81-year-old atheist philosopher Anthony Flew announced to the world that he was no longer an atheist and considered his previous theories to be flawed, the world started taking notice. After teaching atheism at prestigious universities such as Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading and lecturing at many American and Canadian universities, the final turning point…
SourceKALAVAI, INDIA, March 18, 2005: Thousands of devotees come to meet Jayendrar [Swamigal], who is in Kalavai, seeking His blessings. More than 50 fishermen of Devanampatti, Cuddalore came to Kalavai yesterday morning, met Sri Jayendra Saraswati [Swamigal] in Kalavai and got his blessings. Afterwards, they said to journalists: “We have been very badly affected by the tsunami. We have lost…
SourceRAJASTHAN, INDIA, March 18, 2005: (HPI note: The following is from a Christian website.) The Northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan wants to adopt an anti-conversion law over the objections of the local Christian community, Asian news agencies reported Wednesday. On March 24, the state legislature is scheduled to vote on the bill. Tabled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)–the Hindu…
SourceFAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, March 17, 2005: Several social studies textbooks up for adoption by the Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) are being criticized by the Indian community because of the way the books portray the Hindu religion and Indian culture as a whole. The school board is set to adopt the eight textbooks at their March 31 meeting. School officials…
SourceMarch 1, 2005: With the decline of atheism as evidenced when British philosopher Anthony Flew turned his back on his previous belief structure, new spirituality with new and ancient roots is replacing the former movement. Flew calls his new-found belief ’embracing the intelligent design’ and he said, “It is, for example, impossible for evolution to account for the fact than…
SourceIOWA, USA, March 6, 2005: In this news release V.V. Ganeshanathan, a freelance journalist and graduate student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, shares her religious experiences growing up in the Sri Lankan Hindu community in Bethesda, Maryland. V.V. Ganeshanathan recalls, “We sang traditional thevaram, prayers in Tamil and Sanskrit, and listened to legends of the gods recounted in English. For…