Source: Jakarta Post KARANG ASEM, BALI, February 22, 2002: Nineteen Hindu Pedanda high priests from all over Bali gathered to jointly conduct a rare religious ritual at Pura Goa Raja, one of 18 places of worship at Pura Besakih, the mother temple for Balinese Hindus, near Karang Asem. The priests walked around the Goa Raja temple while chanting to pray…
GO TO SOURCE DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, February 20, 2002: The country mourns the end of an era in the passing of an incomparable violinist and music teacher, “Sangeetha Kalaimani” Arunajalam Govindsamy Pillay. Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1924 he came under the tutelage of Edward J. Govindaswami who taught him classical music and Tamil literature. In 1948, Pillay went to India…
GO TO SOURCE AMRITSAR, INDIA, February 18, 2002: After teaching his ancient art of Oriya dance to students in Singapore, Shashadhar Acharya returned home to pass on his skills and passion during a theatre workshop organized by Sangeet Natak Academy and Guru Nanak Dev University. Upon reflection of his experience in Singapore to that of India Shashadhar Acharya said, “He…
Source: The Hindu DELHI, INDIA, February 23, 2002: “The world’s most graceful dress for women is just six yards of untailored cloth. A few deft operations and you step forth with poise and presence. Here in these pages is the secret of how to do it….” Thus goes a leaflet presented by the Central Cottage Industries Emporium (CCIE) to coincide…
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine HAMM, GERMANY, February 22, 2002: Workers are still building the temple devoted to the goddess Sri Kamadchi Ampal, but next month the special painters will come from India to color the Gods inside for the official opening in July. This gritty city on the eastern fringe of the Ruhr industrial region will have what the builders say…
Source: The Hindu HYDERABAD, INDIA, FEBRUARY 18, 2002: Twenty-eight temple places in the state have been notified for incentives and concessions to be given to private parties for developing them as pilgrim tourism centers. The places are Srisailam, Mahanandi, Ahobilam, Mantralayam, Kurnool, Kandimailayyapalle, Mukha Lingam, Annavaram, Drakshramam, Antarvedi, Mandapalli, Ryali, Vemulawada, Kaleswaram, Dharampuri, Bhadrachalam, Basar, Nacharam, Arasavalli, Sringavarapukota, Korukonda, Dwaraka…
GO TO SOURCE USA, February 23, 2002: The Pluralism Project of Harvard University announced the release of the second edition of their CD-ROM, On Common Ground: World Religions in America, currently available from Columbia University Press. The CD-ROM has increased functionality across platforms, enhanced color display, and includes active links to the World Wide Web. The primary content remains similar…
GO TO SOURCE PUNJAB, INDIA, February 20, 2002: We are heading towards the greatest holocaust of unborn girls in human history, according to Sabu George, a girls’ rights campaigner. Girls are viewed as a burden in this community of farmers, where in the past some families would ask village midwives to kill a newborn baby if it turned out to…
GO TO SOURCE COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, February 22, 2002: The Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to a permanent ceasefire as part of a Norwegian initiative to end almost two decades of civil war. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has signed a memorandum of understanding drawn up by Norwegian negotiators which puts an indefinite truce in place. The…
GO TO SOURCE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, February 11, 2002: Imagine a documentary show-casing a pilgrim’s journey from New Zealand, through India, attendance at last years Maha Kumbh Mela, and culminating back in New Zealand for a soul-stirring performance with Indian sarod player Vikash Maharaj. Andrei Jewell, an Auckland film maker whose love of Indian culture began when he was 16…