SourceKANNUR, INDIA, March 25, 2004: Poorotsavam, a unique nine-day festival of Kerala’s North Malabar region, is being celebrated from Thursday to invoke the blessings of Kamadeva (the God of Love and akin to the Roman God Cupid) by young girls during which several Devi temples dotted in the region would host cultural activities. The annual festival that is celebrated from…
SourceKABUL, AFGHANISTAN, March 24, 2004: There is good news for Afghanistan’s minority Hindu and Sikh community, as it looks like they will finally have a suitable place to cremate their dead. Community leader Awtar Singh credits an Institute for War and Peace report in November with helping prompt Kabul municipal leaders to provide a large plot in Pul-i-Charkhi, about 12…
SourceINDIA, March 18, 2004: Chris Satullo, a columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer, believes a lot of problems facing the U.S. economy will be over if Americans learn to be Hindu. And he seriously states his case in this very unusual editorial for a major US newspaper. Satullo thinks the current crop of politicians in the United States think much like…
SourceTORONTO, CANADA, March 25, 2004: A lot can happen in 100 years to a dance tradition. That’s why only half of A Century Of Indian Dance is being presented at the seventh Kala Nidhi International Dance Festival and Conference this year. The festival opened Tuesday at the Harbourfront Centre for six days of discussion, demonstrations and performances, delving into 20th-century…
SourceVRINDABAN, INDIA, March 25, 2004: A film on the plight of widows, reportedly starring Raveena Tandon, has local religious leaders up in arms. While American-Indians Linda and Dharan Mandrayar, and Hannah Kirby of San Diego, California, hope the world will see, care about and act on the film titled “White Rainbow,” the pandas (priests) of Vrindavan are opposed, according to…
Press ReleaseNEW JERSEY, USA, March 24, 2004: A New Jersey couple and their 13-month-old child were diagnosed with serious lead poisoning. Investigation of the poisoning by The New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES) determined that they had been adding a product called “sindoor” to their food as a food coloring. Analysis of this product revealed that is was…
Religion News ServiceUNITED STATES, March 22, 2004: When Robert Orsi, the outgoing president of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), delivered his presidential address to the annual meeting in November, he was caught in a heated dispute that marks a pivotal moment in the history of the study of religion in the United States. The AAR’s board of directors had…
SourceBALI, INDONESIA, March 22, 2004: Indonesia’s Island of Gods, Bali, on Sunday showed no sign of life as its predominantly Hindu population observed a holy day of silence and purification to usher in the Hindu New Year. On “Nyepi,” the day of silence, Hindus are prohibited from lighting fires and using lights, working, leaving their houses and from making any…
SourceCHENNAI/KANCHEEPURAM, INDIA, March 18, 2004: The controversy over the alleged remarks on Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam by Sri Jayendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam on Wednesday took a new turn with the Kanchi Pontiff blaming it all on the media, reports this article. “The media misquoted me on the issue,” he told reporters in Chennai. The controversy began following the Kanchi…
SourceVICTORVILLE, CALIFORNIA, March 18, 2003: Victorville Mayor Terry Caldwell broke coconuts on rocks as part of a traditional Indian consecration of new property. The Chhatrala Group, which owns the the Comfort Suites and 25 other hotels, was breaking ground on two major hotels and a convention center north of Bear Valley Road on Wednesday. The ceremony was a combination of…