SourceTIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA November 29, 2004: The practice of dowry, prevalent among Hindus, is now making its presence in the Christian community as well. In fact, Kerala continues to be one of the epicenters of dowry practice in the country. In the matter of dowry and splurging for the wedding celebrations, it’s the middle class, which is bearing the brunt. “Personally,…
SourceTIRUPARANKUNRAM, INDIA, November 26, 2004: About one hundred thousand devotees today offered worship when the “Karthigai Maha deepam” was lit atop the hill of the famous Sri Subramania swamy temple here this evening. The celebration is also known as Sivalaya Deepam, commemorating the appearance of Lord Siva as a pillar of light. Temple authorities had made elaborate arrangements for the…
SourceAHMEDABAD, INDIA, November 25, 2004: Here’s another Indian ritual that’s moving online. Nonresident Gujaratis who can’t make it to the funeral of a loved one back home will soon be able to watch the last rites on the Net. To be built in Vadodara, the high-tech crematorium, called the Moksha Dham, will be funded by the Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited…
SourceRAIPUR, INDIA November 26, 2004: Naxalities, after vandalizing Hindu temples, attacked Ganesha utsav mandaps (temporary festival shrines) and ashrams in Bastar and Dantewara districts three months ago, have turned to Christian missionaries. Naxalities, who follow Marxist philosophy, ordered Christian missionaries to stop carrying out “religious conversions of tribals.” They ordered eight tribal families of Markabeda village in Narainpur sub-division–who converted…
SourceDELHI, INDIA, September 21, 2004: Speaking at the inauguration in September of AROGYA 2004, a comprehensive health fair to promote the Indian systems of medicine, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, said that the budget for Indian systems of medicine would be increased in order to propagate the traditional system of medicine prevalent in India for several…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, November 28, 2004: HPI reader Paul Levesque, a priest of the Episcopal Church, makes this point about our HPI report of November 17, “Being Hindu in the American ‘Bible Belt.’ “ “May I be allowed to object to your characterization of the Bible Belt as being ‘heavily Christian’? It would be more accurate to state that it is…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, November 24, 2004: The prosecution case against the Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati took a huge beating on Wednesday as key accused Kadhiravan, who allegedly hired the contract killers to murder temple official A. Sankararaman, suddenly turned hostile before the magistrate at Kancheepuram and claimed that his confession was concocted by the police to implicate the seer. When the…
SourceKANCHIPURAM, INDIA, November 26, 2004: A website was created by devotees of Kanchi Mutt to bring better awareness and understanding of the issues surrounding the arrest and interrogation of Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri. Jayendra Saraswati. The site contains recent court documents, media articles and interviews, as well as viewpoints of religious leaders, ministers, politicians, etc. They are also in the process…
SourceVELLORE, INDIA, November 23, 2004: The Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, who is in the Central prison here in connection with a murder case, was today formally arrested in a case relating to the attack on S. Radhakrishnan, a former associate of the Sankara Mutt, Kancheepuram, in Chennai two years ago. The Chief Investigating Officer in the Sankararaman murder case,…
SourceBARNET, ENGLAND, November 18, 2004: An eye-catching Hindu temple could soon be built in Golders Green after new plans were submitted to Barnet Council. The existing Shree Swaminaryan Temple’s red-brick building in Finchley Road would be demolished and replaced with a larger Ivory-colored stone structure, with traditional Hindu features. The 25-year-old temple won planning permission for such a building back…