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…
SourceRAIPUR, INDIA, March 21, 2004: The head priest of a temple in Chhatisgarh, India was awed by the massive turnout of cricket fans who came to pray at the temple, way more than devotees who come on a religious day. “I have been here for a decade, but never seen so many devotees throng the Kali temple from morning to…
SourceCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, March 10, 2004: At Lake Shore Health Care and Rehabilitation Centre in Chicago, Koreans, Indian and Pakistani residents are able to socialize and live with other people of their culture and religion. The article says, “It is a new phenomenon in the nursing-home industry, where amid the universal signs of old age — the wheelchairs and walkers, IV…
SourceMIZORAM, INDIA, March 19, 2004: The small state of Mizoram will soon become the first state in India to officially declare its status as organic. Led by Governor A.R. Kohli, the government is drafting a new law that will ban the sale of chemical fertilizers in the state. The governor does not expect any opposition to the new bill as…