SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 15, 2003: Five beautifully trained dancers from India’s Nrityagram Dance Ensemble received a standing ovation at the Central Park Summer Stage. The ensemble is from Nrityagram, a dance village in Karnataka set up by the late Protima Bedi. The moment artistic director Surupa Sen was revealed under a solitary red light, in a Goddess Durga…
SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., July 11, 2003: In the last year, Christian reality shows like “Travel the Road” and “Truth Quest,” a religious version of MTV’s “Road Rules,” have attracted viewers in Christian households and opened eyes at religious broadcasting stations. Taking a clue from secular networks who found reality programs are equally popular with watchers, but less expensive to produce than…
SourceJAWALA HILLS, KASHMIR, July 13, 2003: After being silent for over a decade, temple bells are ringing once again in the Kashmir valley as thousands of pilgrims, including Kashmiri Pandits, are thronging the ancient temples in the state. Over 9,000 Kashmiri Pandits visited the 460-years-old wooden temple of “Kalo Mata,” popularly known as “Dolo Bhagwati,” on the Deity’s birth anniversary…
SourcePARAMARIBO, SURINAM, July 11, 2003: The oldest temple in Surinam, a Sivalay at the Gangaram Pandayweg in the Saramacca district, was re-inaugurated July 10, 2003. The temple was built roughly 112 years ago by one of the first British-Indian contract workers, Pandit Tribhunath. After forty years of neglect the temple was renovated on the initiative of the Maa Chand Foundation…
HPIBERN, SWITZERLAND, July 9, 2003: When a father tried to take his estranged wife’s partner to court for hitting and kicking his children, the case was rejected, and the court pronounced that the mother’s partner (that is, her new boyfriend) has the right to punish her children. On appeal, the initial ruling was overturned and it was deemed that “the…
SourceBRIENZ, SWITZERLAND, July 14, 2003: Swiss dairy farmer Paul Wyler is offering his cows for rent on the Internet, with all the cheese they produce going to the “owner.” “We have already had dozens of inquiries from people who want to rent one of our cows,” Wyler said. Cows cost US$276 for the summer. Wyler looks after the animals and…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, July 15, 2003: British Immigration and Customs officials have launched a campaign to preempt people from bringing in food and other edible items into Britain. They have said that European Union rules have become very stringent, particularly after SARS. Sources at the High Commission said that the customs at Heathrow airport, where all flights from India land, are…
Hindustan TimesNEW DELHI, INDIA, July 5, 2003: Union Minister for Science and Technology, Murli Manohar Joshi, has appealed to the populace and in particular to allopathic physicians, not to “belittle” ayurveda. Joshi says, “It is the oldest system of medicine, and I fail to understand why they call it an alternative system of medicine. Ayurveda has been practiced by our…
Jakarta PostJAKARTA, INDONESIA, July 10, 2003: Ketut Budiana, Bali’s most creative “post-traditional” artist, was guest of honor at Tokyo Station Gallery, where he held a retrospective exhibition from June 14-21, 2003. A low-profile artist, Budiana is little known in the Indonesian art world beyond a small circle of local and foreign initiates. Budiana’s works are often described as dark canvases…
The StarKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 6, 2003: Misusing his sacred position, a priest serving in an Amman temple in Malaysia has been accused of knowingly deceiving devotees into giving him money and jewelry in exchange for communicating with dead relatives. He then allegedly proceeded to enact bogus encounters with living relatives and the deceased and often conned survivors into giving…