SourceUNITED KINGDOM, March 26, 2004: There are no dues or initiation rituals. Your age, citizenship, political affiliation, gender, religion (or lack of it) don’t matter. The invitation comes from Danny Wallace of London. He is the director of a new comedy development for the BBC, and has written a book about how two words, ingenuity, a sense of humor and…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, March 21, 2004: Those devotees planning to undertake the month-long Amarnath Yatra to a cave high in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir State with an ice Siva Lingam will now have two months to complete the trek after it opens on July 1. The Shrine Board says, “Crowd control measures, on the pattern followed by Mata…
Agence France PresseNEW DELHI, INDIA, March 17, 2004: Devotees of the Goddess Vaishnodevi are now able to send donations over the internet or at the Jammu and Kashmir Bank which has branches across India, so that archanas and prayers can be performed on their behalf at the holy shrine. Many pilgrims have chosen this way of reaching out to the…
Sunday Age (Melbourne)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, March 14, 2004: In a tour coordinated by the Interfaith Network and sponsored by local councils, 18 local government officers and eight police officers were taken to various houses of worship in the city. After visiting Hindu, Greek Orthodox, Buddhist, and Muslim centers as well as other places of worship on their 37-mile journey, senior Constable…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, March 22, 2004: Delhi High Court judge, Justice Vikramajit Sen, made history recently by ruling that “as much as one half of the husband’s earnings should be divided equally among the other members of the family.” He further added, “The archaic rule (of allowing only 1/5th of the husband’s disposal income as alimony) was a vestige of…
SourcePATNA, INDIA, march 23, 2004: Every morning, dozens of Hindu men and women gather at the Khojkala ghat to offer prayers and sing hymns in praise of “Ganga Maiya” or Mother Ganga to save the river from pollution. Arjun Prasad, a member of the group, said the rituals would continue for a year. “We have begun here but will organize…
News ReportCHANDIGARH, INDIA, March 26, 2004: If in the event of an accident, world famous Indian historical monuments such as the Taj Mahal, the Qutub Minar or the Golden Temple were to be rebuilt, have you ever wondered whether these architectural wonders could be made in exactly the same way? Be it the intriguing architecture of the whispering alleys of…
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…