SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, May 10, 2004: Air Sahara may be the first airlines to incorporate meditation sessions on flights in the Bombay-Delhi sector. Right after takeoff, passengers may learn the Art of Living techniques which calm the mind, promote relaxation and bring stress under control. Prashanth Nair of the Art of Living Foundation says, “Passengers are reacting to it positively. It…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, May 23, 2004: Twenty-four students from Shri Ram School began a fifteen-day mission recently to figure out how to save the Yamuna River from pollution. These 12-year-olds are part of a project initiated by We for Yamuna and Development Alliance. The group will stop at thirteen destinations on the River Yamuna so that water purification tests can…
SourceINDIA, June 14, 2004: Tavleen Singh writes in the Indian Express: One of our new “secular” ministers talks of making the Sindhu Darshan festival less communal. The new HRD Minister, the venerable Arjun Singh, constantly talks of detoxifying textbooks. Excuse me? My inner voice has been giving me a hard time again. In this new dawn of shining secularism, when…
TVS HariPALANI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, June 9, 2004: The famous hill temple of Palani is in the news again, this time for correct reasons. Some time ago, when the priests in the temple observed that the navapashana icon (that is, made of nine compounds) in the sanctum sanctorum was being eroded due to excessive abhisheka (pouring of items like milk,…
Chicago Daily HeraldGRAYSLAKE, LAKE COUNTY, USA, June 02, 2004: Hundreds recently blessed the ground on which the Hindu Mandir – Lake County’s first temple – will be constructed. Sheltered from the rain by a white tent, traditional prayers were held before a fire and an icon of Ganesh, the Hindu God of beginnings. “It’s very important, before we start any…
SourceBIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, June 06, 2004: The first question most people ask the tall, blond, blue-eyed Hindu Swami Akhilananda from Texas is how he got to be a Hindu swami, as most seem to be from India. During a recent visit to the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham, Alabama, he wore sandals, beads, a saffron robe and a “tilak,”…
SourceCANADA, June 9, 2004: The Voice of the Martyrs, a Canada-based evangelical Christian organization issued the following news statement today: Within the next two weeks, it is expected that an anti-conversion bill will be presented to the Sri Lankan parliament by members of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in an apparent attempt to stem the growth of Christianity, particularly among…
Channel NewsAsiaSINGAPORE, June 7, 2004: Thirteen Hindu deities at an unregistered Hindu temple will have to find a new home after the High Court threw out its caretaker’s claim that the land on which it is situated belongs to him. Sri Marathadi Muneeswarar Temple, which has devotees here and from Malaysia, has stood on the state-owned site for 48 years.…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, March 24, 2004: Uvir Saran, a chef at the new Indian restaurant Amma, in Midtown, has never tasted the restaurant’s tandoor-grilled lamb chops. “My family in Delhi have been vegetarians for generations,” he said. “At least since the 15th century. Before that we are not so sure,” begins this long New York Times article. Jehangir Mehta,…
SourceLEICESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND, May 4, 2004: A woman from Leicestershire who has had three lucky escapes from fires caused by burning a religious lamp is warning others to be careful. The county’s fire service has started a new campaign aimed at cutting the number of fires started by diva lamps, small oil lamps used on the home shrine of Hindus. Kumudbhen…