SourceTIRUPATI, INDIA, May 5, 2004: The Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala reopened this morning after it was closed last night for the lunar eclipse. According to the age-old temple customs and rituals, on any eclipse, either solar or lunar, the Hindu temples would be closed till the eclipse was over. The temple sources said the lunar eclipse commenced at 12:38…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, May 3, 2004: Close on the heels of the “World Dance Day,” there is good news for the Indian classical dance. Bharata natyam and kathak are among the South Asian dances that have been introduced as part of the BA undergraduate dance curriculum at the prestigious London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS). The course is the first of its…
SourceAHMEDABAD, INDIA, May 7, 2004: What is an ABCJ? What would a Jain do if all his friends in the US ate meat? Should a Jain invest in companies that produce non-Jain products? If these questions baffle you, they have also left the young generation of Jains across the world perplexed. The questions are similar to many facing young Hindus…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, April 28, 2004: British school students should be taught the basics of the country’s six principal religions: Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism, as well as Christianity and Judaism — states a report by the government’s curriculum and examinations watchdog. Education Secretary Charles Clarke said: “Religious education plays an important part in our children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural…
Press ReportLONDON, ENGLAND, May 2, 2004: Pub goers in England have been discovering the crunchier side of Indian cuisine. In most British pubs, the humble poppadum from south India has become the favoured fritter, nudging ahead of french fries. Spurring the poppadum success is a Chennai-based company which exports two million poppadums a day to retail chains like St Michael,…
SourceINDIA, April 26, 2004: The following editorial was sent to HPi by G.C. Asnani (“source” above) and credited to The Hindu Renaissance, Varsha Pratipada-Yugabda 5106. There is one “side-effect” of the feel-good factor, which neither the “India Shining” nor the “India Cheated” peddlers seem to have noticed. The increasing confidence with which many Hindus are owning up their dharmic identity…
Press ReportVIJAYAWADA, INDIA, May 3, 2004: Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of Sarada Peetam, on Monday demanded security to mutt heads and ashrams in the wake of the alleged attempts by Tridandi Sriman Narayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeer to impose Pancharatra system of rituals in all Vaishnava temples, including those following the Vaikanasa tradition. Addressing a press conference here, the Sankaracharya…
SourceUJJAIN, INDIA, May 4, 2004: The Shahi Snan (royal bath) on the last day of the ongoing month-long Simhast (Kumbh) mela began here on Tuesday, with sadhus belonging to various akharas commencing the bath by reaching the banks of river Kshipra in a royal procession and a record number of devotees arriving for the holy dip. The bath began at…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, April 29 2004: Mina Parmar of the Hindu Council UK is concerned that, despite the requirement of tradition and religious practice, the Lord Rama icon damaged by miscreants at the Ealing Road temple has still not been replaced. “I went dutifully to offer my prayers to Lord Rama on His birthday, Ramnavami, enthused with thoughts of His glorious…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 30, 2004: A United States court has asked the New York police department (NYPD) to reinstate a Sikh traffic policeman who quit after he was barred from wearing a turban while on duty and allow him to wear the religious headgear. Jasjit Singh Jaggi, a traffic officer, was “discriminated against based on his religious beliefs”…