SourceMADURAI, INDIA, January 1, 2004: There was a marked silence last night in the Temple city. The fun and pomp typical of the dawn of New Year was conspicuously missing at almost all places in the city. The unusual characteristic of welcoming 2005 this way spoke in silence about the impact of tsunami among the Maduraiites living far away from…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, January 2, 2004: The final act in the Kanchi seer case is all set to be played. The police after managing to round up all the main accused in the case are said to have reached the stage of filing the chargesheet. According to highly-placed sources, a 400-page chargesheet is almost ready with final touches being given in…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, January 1, 2005: Nearly all residents of an orphanage supported by Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, home of Hinduism Today and HPI in Hawaii, miraculously survived the December 26 Tsunami. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of the monastery, had deep ties with Sri Lanka. He was initiated there in 1949 and established a temple and an ashram in the north,…
SourceGALLE, SRI LANKA, January 1, 2004: This short item was included in a longer report (“source”) filed from Sri Lanka: “In southern India, a 100-year old Hindu temple in Kerala state vanished into the sea and a temple in another part of the state collapsed, killing dozens of devotees who had come to perform prayers.”
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, December 31, 2004: As the first chilling images of the death and devastation caused by the tsunami flashed on Indian television Sunday, Tara Kaushal, 21, a freelance writer and accessories designer, started receiving text messages from friends on her cell phone. She in turn messaged others about the disaster, expressing a need “to get together and do something.”…
HPICALGARY, CANADA, December 23, 2004: Sankar Iyer, Overseas Editor for Science India, is currently looking for scholarly written, unpublished articles on the following subjects: 1. The Hindu worship of the elephant God Ganesa; 2. Elephant and religions (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and tribal); 3. Ganesa temples around the globe; 3. Elephant festivals in India and in other countries; 4.…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, December 30, 2004: HPI received a report from S. V. Chandraamogan of Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu stating that the Rameshwaram temple and the Tiruchendur Lord Murugan temple were both undamaged in the tsunami, being in the shadow of Sri Lanka from the waves. In both areas, he said, the sea water drew back a kilometer from the shoreline, but…
Press ReleaseNEASDEN, ENGLAND, December 30, 2004: Following the tragic events of December 26, 2004, special prayers have been arranged at Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden for 5.30 pm. The High Commissioner for Bangladesh, The High Commissioner for India, the Charge d’Affaires of Indonesia, The High Commissioner for Sri Lanka and the First Minister from The Royal Thai Embassy will be attending…
Religion News ServiceLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, December 28, 2004: The online market for Hindu religious services is coming of age, with a plethora of Web sites now catering to the needs of the pious, offering them remote access to temples that have special significance on the Indian religious map. The Web sites offer devotees the chance to have a priest perform…
Source KANCHEEPURAM, INDIA, December 30, 2004: The special investigation team probing the Sankararaman murder case today arrested Raghu, brother of the Junior Acharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Vijayendra Saraswati, on conspiracy charges. The Superintendent of Police, Kancheepuram, K. Premkumar, confirmed the arrest. Mr. Raghu, who was asked to appear before the team this evening, was later told by…