SourceBIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, October 21, 2004: While the city council announced its Christmas events, scores of Hindus across Birmingham have been visiting temples and community centres to celebrate the nine-night religious festival of Navaratri. The festival began last Thursday and worshippers and visitors of all ages today described it as “spiritually enlightening.” The Birmingham-wide activities have also brought communities together and…
SourceKOLKATA, INDIA, October 18, 2004: If you are away from home in a foreign land and missing the Durga Puja festivities, don’t lose heart. Instead, get to a computer and connect to the Internet to find Goddess Durga with her entire ensemble waiting for you. Keeping in mind the millions of lonely and homesick Bengali hearts, who may be thousands…
SourceGUWAHATI, ASSAM, INDIA, October 18, 2004: Though Bodo militants have proposed a ceasefire in Assam, the state government is making massive security arrangements for the Durga Puja with the serial blasts that killed 60 people fresh in their memory. The state police have been put on maximum alert after interceptions of possible ULFA strikes during the festive season. “Its a…
SourceCALCUTTA, INDIA, October 15, 2004: Courtesy the festivals and the wedding season, flower prices have hit the roof. To top it all, came last week’s deluge, preceded by a long spell of rain in September, destroying more than half the state’s produce. “Around 13,490 metric tones of flowers, worth US$1.9 million, have perished in the deluge,” said Sudhanshu Sil, Member…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, October 14, 2004: After the government decided to allow crematoriums to become privatized, many of the previous problems disappeared. S.K. Sethi, secretary of Arya Samaj Lodhi Road Society, which took over Nigambodh Ghat a year ago, explains, “Earlier, there were frequent fights over the quality of wood sold for use in pyres. Relatives performing last rites were…
SourceROURKELA, ORISSA, INDIA, October 17, 2004: In a major reconversion drive by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), as many as 336 tribals of 80 families in 11 villages under Sundargarh district of Orissa were reconverted to Hinduism at a special function in Baridia on Sunday. Over 2,500 women in a kalas yatra arrived at the site where the tribal Christians,…
Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, September 10, 2004: In 2001, while searching for a new and lucrative Internet market, experienced entrepreneurs George Lichter and Rob Wrubel worked through their own serious stress-related ailments with deep breathing, sun salutations and downward-facing dogs. Then it hit them what their next business should be: yoga. So they began snapping up America’s oldest, most…
SourceMINNEAPOLIS, USA, September 9, 2004: In September, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was the setting for an unusual cross-cultural collaboration. “Sethu,” or “Bridge,” employs 50 artists from India, Indonesia and Minnesota to re-tell the ancient Hindu story of Ramayana. It also includes the Indonesian art of “monkey chanting.” The Ramayana is an epic story that might be described as the Hindu…
SourceUNITED STATES, October 17, 2004: (HPI note: We include this item for the frequent travelers among our readers.) In August and September, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) tested the water on 158 domestic and international aircraft at United States airports, finding that 87 percent met the agency’s standards for the quality of drinking water. A surprising 13 percent did not.…
SourcePENNSYLVANIA, USA, October 18, 2004: The Vedic Friends Association held its first North American conference from October 1-3, 2004, bringing together members and invited guests from other Hindu organizations, as well as several professors from universities across North America. Held at the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam at the invitation of Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, it was a “working conference” where problems were…