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…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, January 5, 2003: A British marine archaeologist Graham Hancock has been examining a submerged city on the East Coast of Tamil Nadu. Mr. Hancock says a civilization thriving there may predate the Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq and definitely existed before the Harappan civilization in India and Pakistan. He has been excavating the…
Source: Press Reports BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, December 24, 2002: In an effort to promote cross-cultural links, the city of Birmingham, England, connected the annual Deepavali celebration with the lighting of the towns’ Christmas lights. Held in November the annual event attracted over 5000 people, three quarters of whom were Hindu or Sikh. Indian music, prayer, dance and fireworks plus children’s rides…
GO TO SOURCE SINGAPORE, January 1, 2003: About 500 devotees welcomed the New Year together yesterday in a special prayer session held by two adjoining temples in Yishun, one Taoist and the other Hindu. Carrying a milk pot, Mr. Chua Peng Aik, 69, joined other Taoists and Hindus to usher in the New Year. Both temples had been situated side…
Source: Press Reports KANCHIPURAM, INDIA, December 31, 2002: The Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt recently released a book that contains guidelines for NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), many of which have faced criticism for indirectly inciting religious conversions through their development initiatives. “Government Schemes and the Role and Responsibilities of Non-Government Organizations,” published by a new NGO in the state called…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, December 31,2002: Evangelists D. G. S. Dinakaran and Paul Dinakaran sparked a controversy by sending a letter to Matchi Shiva Sokkalinga Raja Vadivu Thevar, an ardent Siva devotee and authority on Saivism, expressing their happiness over Raja Vadivu’s visit to “Prayer Tower,” the headquarters of the Jesus Calls Trust in Chennai, and requesting him to…
Source: Deccan Chronicle HYDERABAD, INDIA, December 29, 2002: It was recently announced that the State government will be pulling out of low revenue earning or “loss-making” temples. The priests of at least 24,000 temples which earn below US$500 each per annum must now search for ways to generate resources. Following the government’s decision, these temples will not get the minimum…