Source AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, March 5, 2020 (News Bharati): New Zealand Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa acknowledged that the Hindu community in NZ was the second-largest and fastest-growing community. “Your faith and your community will be a big part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s future,” the Minister said while inaugurating the 4th New Zealand Hindu Youth Conference. The inaugural event…
Source Sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the Earth with violence, drenched it often with human blood, destroyed civilizations and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), disciple of Sri…
HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, March 4, 2020 (Hinduism Today): The editors of Hinduism Today plan an article covering India’s powerful cultural preference for fair skin. It is planned to explore the skin lightening industry, the attitudes surrounding this oddity and more. We will compare with a similar movement in the American black community faced the issue several decades ago. Help us…
Source LAHORE, PAKISTAN, February 10, 2020 (Dawn): Despite being granted nominal religious freedom by Pakistan’s Constitution, Hindus like Raj Kumari, who has lived in Lahore since birth, still face extreme obstacles in being able to practice their faith. In a city of 11 million people that covers almost 2,000 square kilometers, only two publicly-functioning Hindu temples remain. One is the…
Source TAMIL NADU, INDIA, March/April 2019 (Archaeology): Srirangam Island, at the confluence of the Kaveri and Kollidam Rivers in southeastern India’s state of Tamil Nadu, is home to a 2,000-year-old temple complex, major parts of which are still in use today. However, much of the complex is hidden or damaged. Many older sections are buried under sediment as a result…
Source You are God. I am God. Only one. You cannot separate me from you.— Satguru Siva Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lanka’s most revered contemporary mystic
Source VERNON, FRANCE, January 28, 2020 (Actu Google translated from French): The Indian Association of Vernon (AIV) celebrated the traditional festival of Pongal last Saturday. With the smell of spices and jasmine, shimmering costumes and traditional songs, the village hall of the Boutardes de Vernon (Eure) was transported for an evening to the south of India thanks to the association…
Source Devout Hindus meet a satguru and in seeing him, draw the darshan vibration from him, absorbing it into themselves. When we say someone is holy or saintly we are feeling the radiations of that divine energy flooding through him and out into the whole world.— Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
Source SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, February 21, 2020 (Millennium Post): Overlooking Srinagar is Hari Parbat, a hill home to a fort, a temple, a gurdwara and a dargah. The temple here is dedicated to Jagdamba Sharika Bhagwati, considered the presiding Deity of Srinagar. Rolled-up concertina wires lie on the long flight of stairs leading up to the temple. A CRPF jawan proffers…
Source INDIA, February 21, 2020 (Zee News): The auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri is being celebrated across India on Friday with full fervor. A sea of devotees throng temples to offer prayers to Lord Shiva and observe fasts. Maha Shivaratri, the greatest night of Shiva, is one of the most splendidly celebrated festivals in India. It celebrates the grand marriage…