GO TO SOURCE PLANO, TEXAS, September 4, 2002: A circle of 12 parents and children sit cross-legged in a yoga position, begins this report in the Dallas Morning News. They take a deep breath. As they exhale, they say, sonorously, “Ommmmmm.” The syllable fades to silence in the conference room at Plano Station, and the circle is still. “Who wants…
GO TO SOURCE LONDON, ENGLAND, September 8, 2002: The Hindu community here responded overwhelmingly to various job opportunities in the British police force. This was reflected at a specially organized recruitment center at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden, London, last night where a sea of hands went up from among the 3,000 people gathered to join the police force. Assistant…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, September 11, 2002: On the occasion of the commemoration of the 9/11 attacks on America, Swami Gautamananda, president of the Ramakrishna Mission in Chennai was requested to address the gathering. His remarks read in part, “Though we are yet to find out what all ideas worked behind that tragedy of September 11, 2001, we can…
GO TO SOURCE VADODARA, INDIA, September 10, 2002: Nearly 250 Ganesh icons were damaged mysteriously at Ranchhod Rai temple near Madan Zampa here on Sunday. All of the icons prepared for Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations were on display at the temple. They all cracked within seconds of each other. The event was being largely construed as a bad omen even as…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, September 12, 2002: DMK party president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday condemned the criticisms for conducting the temple consecrations by chanting mantras in Tamil. “Those who criticized conducting the consecrations with mantras being chanted in Tamil have no place in Tamil Nadu,” he said while participating at a marriage function. At a recent temple consecration at…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, September 9, 2002: NRI Sadbhavna Mission to India has collected $1 million from the NRIs living in the US, of which 80% has already been distributed for the riot-affected people. Names of the organizations through which these funds were disbursed, cannot be revealed “because some of them have been threatened,” says Shrikumar Poddar of the…
GO TO SOURCE September 9, 2002: Rediff’s web guide has compiled what they believe are the best links for Ganesha Chaturthi. From a short history of the festival to virtual worship, a link to the famous Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai and photos of Ganesha immersions are a few of their picks. Check them out at “source” and enjoy Ganesha’s darshan.
GO TO SOURCE PUERTO RICO, September 11, 2002: Dada J.P. Vaswani is visiting Puerto Rico, as he does almost each year. Dada was just named Hinduism Today’s “Hindu of the Year” for 2002. He gives spiritual talks to local Hindus and the general populace. On September 25, he will be speaking on, “Change Your Attitude, and Change Your Life” at…
GO TO SOURCE BANGALORE, INDIA, September 9: Environmentalists, take heart: the Lalbagh Horticultural Department is planning to employ five expert swimmers to immerse Ganesha idols in water for a nominal fee. The department’s aim is to control reckless immersion of idols, which is causing damage to the Lalbagh lake, Joint Director of the Department of Horticulture, Lalbagh, S. Ashwath says.…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, September 10, 2002: The radical group, Hindu Munnani, has asked icon makers not to make statues of Lord Ganesh that show Him wearing a shirt and trousers and not the traditional Indian dhoti. Such icons are popularly called “Baba style” and are selling briskly across Chennai. Munnani claims they would not bring good luck to…