Source: The San Francisco Chronicle SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, January 8, 2003: It’s a small sign of a big change for California’s Indian-Americans. Once busy showing Bollywood blockbusters, a Fremont theater specializing in Indian films, relocated to a smaller home this week after attendance dropped along with the tech economy. The theater, which serves South Asians hungry for a taste…
GO TO SOURCE PONDICHERRY, INDIA, January 8, 2003: The chief superintendent of prisons at India’s Pondicherry Central Jail, Mr. G. David, is facing a judicial inquiry after being accused of forcibly converting inmates to Christianity. A Hindu organization called Munanni is also asking for his suspension and calling upon state legislators to adopt an anti-conversion law similar to that in…
GO TO SOURCE UNITED STATES, January 2, 2003: This lengthy article by Hari Chandra is a well-written rebuttal in response to “Hijacking India’s History,” an Op-Ed piece by Kay Friese, published in the New York Times on December 30, 2002. Mr. Chandra writes: “India’s Hindu nationalists have a rightful quarrel with the official history, which has for long been guided…
GO TO SOURCE SRINAGAR, INDIA, January 4, 2003: In a place where hundreds of people have died in terrorist attacks for over a decade, the death of a script has gone unnoticed. Sharda, the script that gave Kashmir its former name, Sharda Desha, is understood by few Kashmiris today. One of the last Sharda scholars in Srinagar, Professor T. N.…
Source: News Reports KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 7, 2003: Thai Pusam celebrations at Malaysia’s famous Batu Caves Murugan Temple will be held January 18 to 20. Approximately one million devotees will gather at Batu Caves and half a million in Penang to worship Lord Muruga.
GO TO SOURCE KERALA, INDIA, January 3, 2003: Muslim organizations have demanded Kerala’s Minister for Local Government, Cherkalam Abdullah, a Muslim, should do penance for wearing a tilak at a function in Sringeri Mutt recently. As a result of Mr. Abdullah’s actions, The Sunni Youth League has barred the minister from entering mosques. “It is nothing but blasphemy. A true…
GO TO SOURCE KHALLARI, INDIA, December 30, 2002: One hundred Christian families from Saraipali village along with another one hundred families participated in a ceremony whereby they were brought back into the Hindu fold. Hailing from the Mahasamund District, each Hindu devotee had their feet washed and tilak applied. Dileep Singh Judev, a member of the Hindu Sangam organizing the…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 30, 2002: The third International Murugan-Skanda Seminar will be held this year on May 1-4, 2003 in Kuala Lumpar. Devotees of Lord Murugan from around the world are invited to attend. Registration for the event is US$100 and includes accommodation and meals. Participants in the formal program are requested to submit their presentations…
GO TO SOURCE KAUAI, HAWAII, January 6, 2003: Hinduism Today is seeking a Hindu organization or individual in Bangkok to assist with the visit of our correspondent to the country in the beginning of February. We are in need of contacts among the local Hindu population. Kindly e-mail “source” above.
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, January 5, 2003: India’s East Coast, especially along Tamil Nadu, is increasingly drawing the attention of archaeologists and anthropologists from across the world for its evolutionary and historical secrets. The focus has sharpened after genetic scientist Spencer Wells found strains of genes in some communities of Tamil Nadu that were present in the early man…