SourceRICHMOND HILL, UNITED STATES, April 11, 2005: Phagwah is the Indo-Caribbean celebration of spring known as Holi in India. Local celebrations vary, and always color plays a big role. Indians who went to the Caribbean as indentured laborers in the 19th and early 20th century brought the holiday to Guyana, Surinam and Trinidad. Since 1970 many Guyanese emigrated to the…
Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.ONTARIO, CANADA, March 19, 2005: The B’nai Brith in Canada has been lobbying to add the following changes to the Criminal Code of Canada, “To make Holocaust denial a hate crime, for racist groups and symbols to be banned and for public schools to adopt zero-tolerance policies for hate, anti-Semitism and racism.” Paula Banerji, a Manitoba Hindu,…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 4, 2005: For two months in 2005 (April and May), Celebrating India will be travelling nationwide to showcase Indian artists with emphasis on Indian dance. The performers had their debut in the first week of April at Symphony Space. The news release explains, “There was a production called Masters of Kathakali followed on by Priyadarsini…
SourceDEHRA DUN, INDIA, April 8, 2005: The Char Dham Teerth Bachao Sangharsh Samiti has threatened to not allow reopening of the doors of the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines if the Government does not drop the move to bring about an Act to regulate the management of the shrines and temples in Uttaranchal. Describing the move as an attempt…
SourceMUMBAI, INDIA, April 9, 2005: Residents today celebrated the Hindu New Year in a traditional colorful manner and welcomed the year Shalivahan Shaka 1927 by erecting decorated gudis. The day is commonly known as Gudi Padwa and households across the state witnessed hectic activities with family members getting ready after bath to erect the traditional gudi – long bamboo stick…
SourceDELHI, INDIA, April 9, 2005: With the start of Navaratri, the festival of nine nights, Hindu devotees thronged the temples today. This festival is celebrated twice in a year. Once in the bright two-week period of Shukla Paksha of the lunar month of Ashwani (Asuj in Kashmiri) – corresponding to September/October) from the 1st to the 9th date of the…
SourceSRINAGAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, April 10, 2005: In this new season of reunions and homecomings, Kashmir today took a significant step forward towards yet another reconciliation. For the first time, a group of Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims, including a senior separatist leader, gathered in an old Durga temple to celebrate Navratra (Hindu New Year) and talk about hopes, aspirations and…
SourceSRINAGAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE, INDIA, April 10, 2005: Chief minister Mufti Sayeed on Saturday announced that the government is planning to sponsor a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits (KP) who have desired to visit their holiest temple at Sharda in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). “We will be doing it at the earliest,” he told KPs at Zeshta Devi temple on the…
SourceDEVANAMPATTINAM, SOUTH INDIA, April 5, 2005: Project Hope — the name of the tsunami relief organization formed by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (President of Parmarth Niketan Rishikesh and Chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation) and the famous actor Vivek Oberoi — has been working continuously for tsunami relief in South India. Please see “source” for details of work. There have…
SourceMIDNAPORE, INDIA, March 27, 2005: About thirty-four terracotta temples of the 18th century at Pathra in Midnapore district of West Bengal have an unlikely saviour–a Muslim clerk who fought against communal tension, apathy and negligence to ensure that they survive for posterity, says this article. For Yasin Pathan, the temples have been a point of attraction since childhood days. His…