SourceHOUSTON, TEXAS, July 21, 2004: Houston’s first traditional all-stone and marble Hindu temple, the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, is being blessed and dedicated this weekend by His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The 12-day inaugural festival commenced yesterday, with the Deity installation scheduled for Sunday, July 25. For more information, click “source” above. This temple is on the same scale as the…
SourceJAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA, July 18, 2004: The special helicopter service for pilgrims to the holy shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir has been a big hit with the affluent amongst them preferring to fly to the cave instead of taking the treacherous trek. Since the official yatra began on July 15, private helicopters have been shuttling 30 to 40…
Antara Indonesian National News AgnecyDENPASAR, INDONESIA, July 15, 2004: Indonesia’s province of Bali was appointed to host the world Hindu Youth Summit to take place here from November 26 to 30, 2004. The summit which would be the first of its kind, was expected to be attended by at least 180 participants and observers from 18 countries, chairman of the…
Christian Science Monitor DELHI, INDIA, July 19, 2004: This report from the Christian Science Monitor is rather more balanced than most circulating these days about the rewrite of India’s school textbooks. We produce it in full: In the past five years, Indian schoolchildren of all faiths have learned quite a bit about the culture of the Hindu majority. With the…
SourceLUCKNOW, INDIA, July 17, 2004: In what appears to be a prelude to taking over administrative control of bigger temples, including disputed shrines of Ayodhya and Mathura, the Uttar Pradesh government plans to take appointment of priests/heads of temples in its hands and bring them under the purview of the state audit. In a government order dated June 28, 2004,…
SourceMUMBAI, INDIA, June 16, 2004: Even as India’s eastern part continues to reel under floods, lack of rains in the western parts has forced some Hindu priests — standing neck-deep in water and chanting hymns — to invoke the rain god.”Praying to Varuna — the God of rains — while standing in water is a very effective ritual,” believes K.A.…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 16, 2004: The age-old tradition of tolerance in India has received an honourable appreciation in a report by the United Nations. Although ranked 127 out of 177 countries, this report (more at “source”) acknowledges that India’s so-called semi-literate or illiterate majority shows greater respect to followers of other religions than in many more prosperous nations.…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, July 20, 2004: We received a good response to yesterday’s request for on-line audio of the Vedas and other scriptures. Here are three: http://www.vedamu.org/Media/audio/chanting.asp http://sanskrit.bhaarat.com/Dale/Audio.html http://www.urday.com/onlineaarti.htm
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, July 19, 2004: The BBC has announced plans for a new complaints procedure to make it easier for people to air grievances about programs and get mistakes corrected. The BBC promised greater openness and said licence payers would be presumed to be right, not wrong, in complaints. Director general Mark Thompson said there would be a greater willingness…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, July 19, 2004: An HPI reader asks, “I’m writing you to know if there is any website available for Vedas where one can read and even satsang and prathana where you can download and listen to it.” If you’re aware of such a site, please e-mail “source” above.