ShivaBot Hit of Robot Show

SourceNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, July 15, 2003: Not all robots look and act like the Terminator. The idea behind ArtBots, billed as a talent show for robots, is to show kids of all ages the softer side of bots. Fear of potentially rabid robots and other supposedly sentient technology is what motivated ArtBots organizers to host the show held…

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Multinationals Eyeing Patent On Rudraksha

SourceKOCHI, INDIA, October 5, 2003: A multinational pharmaceutical company is understood to have initiated steps to gain patent rights over rudraksha, the seed of the tree known as Elaeocarpus ganitrus, in botanical terms. Another international jewelry firm has reportedly come up with diamond-studded rudraksha ornaments, says this article. The rudraksha seed is used in Ayurvedic medicines for curing psychiatric disorders,…

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Giant Laddoo for Hanuman

SourceJHAROLI, INDIA, October 4, 2003: Dozens of sweetmeat makers in Baikunth Dham in Uttar Pradesh are making a massive 11,100 kg laddoo (Indian sweet ball) to distribute to devotees of Hanuman after the effigy of the demon king Ravana is set on fire on Dusshera this year. Last year they made a laddoo of 2,100 kilograms, said Swami Ramanand Chaityna,…

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Permission Refused for Mass Conversion of Dalits to Buddhism

SourceVADODARA, GUJARAT, October 5, 2003: The mass conversion of Dalits (“Untouchables”) to Buddhism ended quietly today with the Vishwa Boudh Sangh forced to make the conversion ceremony a “dharma sabha” (meeting on dharma) following refusal of permission by the Vadodara district administration under the new Anti-Conversion Act in force in Gujarat. Under the Act no permission can be given unless…

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Abridged Script for Hindu Wedding Available

SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, October 8, 2003: In response to an earlier request for a Vedic Wedding Script, Mahamandeleshvara Swami Veda Bharati has send us the document at “source” above. The introduction reads: “An Abridged Version of the Vedic Wedding Ceremony translated by Swami Veda Bharati. The celebration of a full traditional ceremony make take between four hours and four days. Here…

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French Web Site on “Sacred Science”

SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, October 8, 2003: The Science Sacree website at “source” traces its roots to the work of Rene Verdon, an early French Vedantist. The site is available only in French at this time. HPI would appreciate it if someone could occasionally send us English summaries of useful articles.

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The Sacred Aum Sound

HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, October 8, 2003: Swami Amarananda of the Centre Vedantique in Geneva (amarananda@bluewin.ch), Switzerland, writes, “In reference to the query in regard of the discovery (of a low sound emanating out in a galaxy) by Chandra Observatory. Swami Vivekananda used to say, on the basis of his experience, that one coming to the normal state of consciousness from a…

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The Great Hindu Kingdoms of Indonesia

SourceINDONESIA, October 8, 2003: This interesting article on the history of Hinduism in Indonesia (“source” above) begins, “Over 400 years ago most of East Java was exactly like Bali is today. Prior to 1815 Bali had a greater population density than Java, suggesting its Hindu-Balinese civilization was even more successful than Java’s. When Sir Stamford Raffles wrote his History Of…

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Sri Ramakrishna Temple Project Welcomed Near Chicago

SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., October 5, 2003: Devotees and swamis of the Ramakrishna Order joined priests in chanting Vedic mantras to purify the land where the first Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple is to be built near Chicago. Various mantras and prayers were chanted for spiritual advancement, high attainment, protection and success. The Vivekananda Vedanta Society, Chicago, is building a center of harmony…

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Britons Marks Dusshera-Diwali

SourceLONDON, U.K. October 4, 2003: A cake in the form of a mini football pitch, hip henna tattoos to accessorize Brit-Indian costume chic, dozens of advertisements for ‘Diwali-dinner-and-dance’ evenings, thousands of twinkling tea lights. Six-hundred people meeting every night during Navaratri in Bradford, U.K. to dance the garba. An English town hall, ceremonially ‘switching on’ its Diwali lights and a…

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