SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 9, 2004: Mel Gibson’s controversial film The Passion of the Christ, which sparked unprecedented debate following its release early this year, has finally arrived on Malaysian shores, according to this report in The Star. It was learnt that the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) would be meeting with the local distributor of the film to work…
SourceDEHRA DUN, July 8, 2004: All the 1,600 pilgrims stranded for the past two days in Badrinath area due to landslides triggered by a cloudburst have been evacuated SDM, Chamoli district, Sanjay Kumar Singh said on Thursday. Everyone, save 31 waiting for the road to clear to take back their vehicles, have come out of the disaster-hit Badrinath area and…
SourceSUMMIT STATION, PENNSYVANIA, July 8, 2004: A Hindu temple that is among the largest in North America has reported more than US$52,000 worth of jewels and ornamental items stolen, police said. The stolen items included two 8-carat round diamonds with a combined value of $40,000, state police at Schuylkill Haven said. The thefts at the 35,000-square-foot Haveli at Vraj near…
Religion News ServicePORTLAND, OREGON, July 9, 2004: Archbishop John Vlazny, head of the Archdiocese of Portland, announced Tuesday (July 6) that the archdiocese would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it could not afford to pay massive settlements in sex abuse-related lawsuits, according to this report from Religion News Service. A diocese is the territorial jurisdiction of a bishop…
SourceERODE, TAMIL NADU, July 6, 2004: Farmers in Dharapuram are donating vegetables every day for the Annadhanam scheme, which provides free feedings at temples. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister, P.C. Ramasamy, had appealed to the public to donate to the Annadhanam scheme. In Erode district, the scheme was recently introduced in Kadu Anjaneyar Temple, Dharapuram. It is the…
Deccan ChronicleHYDERABAD, INDIA, July 5, 2004: Corporal punishment is blamed for taking the lives of two school students, besides leaving another student in shock, in the first two weeks of the new academic year. According to information available with the teachers’ forum, Savara Aenamma, a student in Sagaramjugudupalle of Sitampet in Srikakulam district, was made to do 150 sit-ups as…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, July 3, 2004: The sleepy suburb of Pallavaram, especially around Periamalai area, today woke up to tension and tumult as a temple murthi (icon) was found smashed to smithereens by unidentified miscreants. A trident and a previously mutilated peacock statue in the temple were also found broken. This morning the authorities of the local Balamurugan temple found the…
SourceFLORIDA, USA, July 7, 2004: Florida International University, the State University in Miami, Florida and Hindu University of America, located in Orlando, Florida will begin offering on-line Sanskrit courses this fall. The four-course sequence is fully accredited by FIU and is available to students worldwide. The classes begin August 30. The courses have been developed by Dr. B. V. Venkata…
SourceDEHRA DUN, July 6, 2004: At least 17 persons were killed and 28 injured when three vehicles were swept into Alaknanda river by heavy landslides triggered by a cloudburst that left nearly 5,000 pilgrims stranded near Badrinath shrine area in Uttaranchal’s Chamoli district, police sources said here. According to second report in The Hindu, the pilgrimage was today suspended for…
SourceAHMEDABAD, INDIA, July 5, 2004: The threat perception to Amarnath Yatra put forward by the Jammu and Kashmir Government was no deterrent for hundreds of Gujaratis who queued up for hours for registration for the pilgrimage at the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Ahmedabad on Monday. Though the registration was to begin at 3 pm, at least 1,000 persons were…