SourcePUSHKAR, INDIA, November 22, 2004: Its welcome news for India’s tourism industry. The Pushkar Fair that has kicked off in Rajasthan is set to break all records of tourist arrivals. Due to the tragedy of 9/11, Indo-Pak tensions, the Iraq war and the SARS threat, tourists had stayed away from this fair for the past three years. But now they…
SourceKANCHIPURAM, INDIA, November 22, 2004: A Kanchipuram court on Monday rejected a prosecution plea seeking the extension of the police custody of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi till 1400 IST on Tuesday. Dismissing the application, First Class Judicial Magistrate-I Uthamaraj held that the seer had already been “sufficiently interrogated” and there was no need to grant further custody. The public prosecutor…
SourceDELHI, INDIA, November 21, 2004: Describing Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati’s arrest as “painful,” Hindu spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi on Sunday hoped that the seer’s “ordeal” passed of as a “bad dream.” “It is painful to learn about the arrest of Kanchi Acharya. It seems like a bad dream and may it continue to be nothing more than that…,” she said.…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, November 21, 2004: There will be no dearth of anxious couples November 28, but there sure will be a shortage of priests as some 14,000 weddings are expected to be solemnized in the capital on what is an auspicious day for Hindus. Not just priests, even services of marriage contractors, caterers and florists will be available at…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, November 22, 2004: Our thanks to Dharam Prakash for pointing out a potential misreading of the November 20th HPI item, “Reunion Deepavali Celebrations Inspire Guadeloupe Hindus.” One could read the report as meaning that the Hindus of Indian origin in Mauritius had become Roman Catholics since their migration to the island. This is, of course, not true. The…
SourceTRINIDAD, November 21, 2004: The Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) issued the following statement in support of a Hindu movement to change the name of the country’s highest civilian award: CCSJ strongly urges the Government to take action to change the name of Trinidad & Tobago’s highest award – the Trinity Cross – to be faithful to the multi-religious…
SourceJAKARTA, INDONESIA, November 18, 2004: Crowds are flocking to a Hindu temple on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a glimpse of an ancient banyan tree which has begun oozing a honey-like substance said to have mystical properties. The sweet-tasting liquid started drizzling from the canopy of the tree onto temple buildings at the village of Baktisegara on the northern…
SourceUSA, November 21, 2004: This latest essay by Rajiv Malhotra explores the validity of the oft-repeated claim that “Hinduism is the same as other religions.” From his earlier writings (Problematizing God’s Interventions in History: here), Malhotra had classified religious movements as History-Centric and non History-Centric. According to Malhotra: “The former are contingent on canonical beliefs of their sacred history. Non…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, November 21, 2004: Hinduism Today is looking for scriptural quotations from Vaishnavism that declare that Vishnu is not only the Preserver, but, as the Supreme Godhead, also performs the functions of creation and destruction. We would like similar quotations for Shakti, for Brahma and for Siva. These scriptural citations will be useful in the on-going effort to dismantle…
SourceNEW YORK, U.S.A., November 16 2004: Animal-rights activists have launched a novel campaign arguing that fish are intelligent, sensitive animals no more deserving of being eaten than a pet dog or cat. Called the Fish Empathy Project the campaign reflects a strategy shift by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as it challenges a diet component widely viewed…