Source: Nationwide News Pty Limited VARANASI, INDIA, March 29, 2003: Hindus yearn to visit the holy Ganges River, to bathe in its sacred waters known to cleanse or wash away all sins, and many Hindus hope to die in Varanasi in order to escape from the cycle of rebirth. Approximately 80,000 people bathe daily on the ancient ghats of Varanasi.…
GO TO SOURCE KASHMIR, INDIA, March 23, 2003: Pilgrims planning to visit the famous Amarnath Shrine in South Kashmir this year will now have another option for travel. A helicopter service, sponsored by the Jammu and Kashmir government, and approved by the Amarnath Shrine Board, was adopted in order to attract more pilgrims but also to attract tourists. This year…
GO TO SOURCE KONARK, ORISSA, March 23, 2003: Orissa International Center, a non-government organization, plans to submit a proposal to the Chief Minister of Orissa on April 1, that 100 acres of land between Konark and Chandrabaga be set aside for the building of a new Navagraha Temple. The temple would house the nine planets honored by the Indian school…
GO TO SOURCE MYSORE, INDIA, March 16, 2003: More than eighty years ago the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir was constructed across the river Cauvery to ensure that farmers in the area had a water supply to grow crops. Water levels have plummeted for the 4th year in a row and the 1,100-year-old Gopalakrishna temple that was submerged when the dam was…
Source: Jakarta Post LANGKAT, INDONESIA, March 21, 2003: Stepping back in time to a civilization hundreds of years old, descendants of Balinese Hindus who left Bali after Mount Agung erupted in 1961 have settled in a hamlet called Hamlet Bingei Village. Approximately 30 families have built homes featuring traditional Hindu architectural style and maintained their forefathers’ culture. Wayan Mangku Digejen,…
Source: Sify.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 3, 2003: The Iraq war has greatly reduced India’s mango exports to the Gulf, but has created a bonanza for the domestic market where top brands of the “king of fruits” are now easy picking. India accounts for almost 65 percent of the world’s mango production, but it exports less than one percent of…
GO TO SOURCE VADODARA, INDIA, April 4, 2003: When members of the Basu family gather on April 10 at their house in Makarpura, they will not be attending just a family puja (home worship service). They all will be witness to an historic occasion — the completion of 100 years of a family puja that began in far away Bengal…
Source: The Age (Melbourne) JAKARTA, INDONESIA, April 2, 2003: His trial has yet to begin, but a giant effigy of alleged Bali bomber, Amrozi, was facing ritual execution by fire last night on the eve of the Hindu festival of Nyepi. Normally the giant bamboo and papier-mache monster dolls burnt across the Hindu island of Bali represent figures from Balinese…
Source: Leicester Mercury LEICESTER, ENGLAND, March 28, 2003: Utsav radio has been granted a license and will be on the air for four weeks from March 31. It will be broadcast on 97.5FM, 18 hours a day from 6 a.m. until 12 a.m. The station, supported by Leicester Hindu temples organization, will celebrate Ram Navami, Shree Swaminarayan Jayanti, Shree Mahavir…
GO TO SOURCE CAMP LEJEUNE, U.S.A., April 4, 2003: Nishkam Gupta, 21, is not like others of his age, his parents will tell you. He is currently at Camp Lejeune, serving in the Marines, and in a few days he will leave to serve in Iraq. Nishkam attended a Marine boot “summer” camp while in high school and later made…