SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 1, 2004: The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Committee is advising kavadi bearers for the Thaipusam festival on February 5 to maintain it as a religious festival and not a fun party. Kavadi is the practice of devotees carrying large decorated arches on their shoulders a long distance a temple. They usually pierce their skin with many…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, January 28, 2004: The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is wooing people for next month’s Mahasivaratri at the shrine of Lord Pashupathinath near Kathmandu. The Chief Executive Officer of the board, Tek Bahadur Dangi, admitted that tourism had been affected by the Maoist insurgency in the Hindu kingdom during 1999 and 2002 but things improved in 2003 when the…
SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., January 2004: Not many brides can say their weddings stopped traffic. But that’s exactly what happened to Mita Jain last May as friends and family followed her fiance down State Street in Chicago on their way to the ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton. Of course, it’s not every day that passers-by are treated to a man in…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, February 1, 2004: The April-May-June ’04 issue of Hinduism Today (coming out early March) will contain a special 16-page article giving very good and full answers to the 10 questions Hindus hear most often — generally with embarrassment for lack a strong, clear answer. “Are Hindus idol worshippers?” can be quite disturbing, even damaging, when the answer is…
SourceLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, January 26, 2004: After experiencing heart palpitations Jon Mejia’s doctor diagnosed abnormal heart rhythm and sent him to a specialist at a prestigious Los Angeles medical center. Although his doctor told him that beta blocker drugs could control the symptoms, Mejia, 49, didn’t want to take them because of concerns about side effects. So Mejia turned instead…
SourceLAHORE, PAKISTAN, January 28, 2004: The Archaeology Department in Pakistan’s Punjab province has begun supervision of restoration work of the famous Hindu shrine of Ketas, which is located between Kallar Kahar and Choa Saidan Shah. The first phase of the restoration work is likely to cost US$140,000 and will be completed in the next few months, Faisal Ali, an official…
SourceSURAT, INDIA, January 30, 2004: A day after the VHP and Bajrang Dal workers allegedly vandalized paintings of MF Hussain and others at an exhibition in Surat claiming that “they displayed utter dishonor towards Goddess Durga,” the renowned painter on Friday said the Durga painting was not done by him. “The painting was the work of a known painter of…
SourceUNITED KINGDOM, January 28, 2004: Scientists believe they have identified the main cause behind the catastrophic decline in the numbers of Asian vultures. In the past 10 years, population losses of more than 95% have been reported in three raptor species — Oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), the long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) — across…
SourceSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 31, 2004: Perhaps the use of the similar Hindu science of Vastu Shastra for home and building design can be similarly recommended… Here’s the report from the Associated Press: State Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, has introduced a resolution that urges public building officials to accommodate feng shui — the ancient Chinese art of designing structures…
SourceSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 30, 2004: A memorial service for Sister Gargi of the Northern California Vedanta Society will be held at the Old Temple in San Francisco on Sunday, February 1 and 1:00 pm. The Society notes that, “Swami Ashokananda was not the founder of the SF Vedanta Society. Swami Vivekanandaji founded the center, and it was built up…