SourceMUMBAI, INDIA, March 13, 2004: International media coverage and the celebrities descending on the 2001 Kumbh Mela in Allahabad for their holy dip marked a new opportunity for religious travel tours. Religious tourism, until lately the domain of small-time tour operators, is fast turning into a lucrative market for travel companies. A visit to Vaishnodevi, for example, which attracts more…
SourceSOUTH PLAINFIELD, U.S.A. March 13, 2004: The borough Zoning Board has voted unanimously to block the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in New Jersey. The International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization wanted to build a one-story, 14,000-square-foot temple on a 6.7-acre tract zoned for light-industrial use. “The congestion and traffic would be a detriment to the safety and welfare of the…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, March 15, 2004: Hinduism Today is inviting essays from Hindu teens and young adults (ages 13 to 25) on the subject of racial identity for the young Hindu-American of Indian ancestry. This touchy subject was explained to us some years back by a young Indian student. Students in his school were divided socially mainly along racial and ethnic…
SourceNEW YORK, U.S.A., March 14, 2004: Tens of thousands of people turned Liberty Avenue in Queens, New York, into a festival of color and music in celebration of Phagwah. People lined the avenue to watch the annual Phagwah Parade, which has been organized by religious leaders in the Queens Guyanese community for more than 10 years. As they watched floats…
SourceNEW YORK,U.S.A, March 13, 2004: As interior design gurus go, Kathleen Cox is no Martha Stewart. But she has organized her living space according to Vastu, the ancient Indian science of architecture. Vastu is the science of design of buildings, living spaces, towns and temples followed in India for thousands of years. Now it has made its way into the…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, March 14, 2004: Utter confusion was caused about the faith and identity of the two people of Indian extraction who were detained in Madrid by Spanish police following the receipt of a videotape purportedly from Al-Qaeda claiming responsibility for the massacre of 200 train commuter in Madrid. The two were identified as “Hindues,” but it turns out that…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, March 17, 2004: HPI was interested to learn that the history of Britain contains a controversy very much like that of the “Aryan Invasion” theory in India’s history. The Aryan Invasion theory claims that tribes from Asia entered India about 1500 bce and brought with them the Vedas, Sanskrit and many aspects of what came to be Indian…
Hamilton SpectatorHAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, February 21, 2004: When the Hindu Samaj Temple was destroyed in a case of hate-inspired arson after 9/11, the whole community suffered from the loss of a place to worship. Shortly after the calamity, the community pulled together and formed an organization called Strengthening Hamilton Community Initiative. The mission of the organization is to create harmony…
SourceYUBA CITY, CALIFORNIA, March 7, 2004: When the Hunji family arrived in California in 1950, there was no temple in the area. Now the Sri Narayan Hindu temple on Franklin Road is the place of worship for Hindus in the area. The Hunji family was instrumental in bringing the temple to completion in 1996. Hardial Hunji donated part of his…
SourceDURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, March 7, 2004: Thirty-four-year old Hindu Tamil priest, Guru Ravivasudevan Iyer, started using a computer software program about one year ago to assist devotees in predictions and advice about their personal karmas. The article says, “Instead of consulting the Panchangam, a Tamil astrological book, Guru Ravivasudevan Iyer bases his predictions on information contained in software called StardotStar.”…