Source: CNN GEORGETOWN, GUYANA, January 4, 2002: Conflicting dates for holidays this year have Christians, Hindus and Muslims in Guyana asking how to honor all religious traditions without rescheduling some celebrations in the South American country. This year, the Hindu festival of Phagwah, Holi, which joyously celebrates spring and the Hindu new year, falls on the same day as the…
Source: G. K. Nair, HPI correspondent CHIKMAGALUR, KARNATAKA, January 4, 2002: The Dattatreya temple here is under the possession of Muslims for many years. It functions like a mosque, except on the Hindu holiday of Dattatreya Jayanti in December, when Hindus come to pay homage to the original God of the temple. Hindus come on others days as well, even…
Source: Press Release HELENSBURGH, AUSTRALIA, January 4, 2002: The Sri Venkateswara Temple announced today special ceremonies to invoke Varuna, God of the oceans, seas and water in general, for rain and the calming of the wind and fire threatening the area around Sydney. At least 15,000 firefighters have been battling the blazes, according to the BBC. There is no end…
Source: Reuters KUALA LUMPAR, MALAYSIA, December 28, 2001: Convicting three men to death from a Muslim sect called the Al-Ma’unah and pronouncing a life sentence on 16 other members of the movement, a Malaysian court is trying to stop the self-declared jihad (holy war) in its country. In a stable country where ethnic Chinese and Indians also comprise part of…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 3, 2002: Union Home Minister L K Advani’s six-day visit to the United States beginning January 8 will take him across the country from New York to San Francisco and bring him face to face with some of the top decision-makers in the Bush Administration. These include Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney…
GO TO SOURCE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, DECEMBER 30, 2001: Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will be taught to meditate as an alternative way of controlling their behavior in a Sydney program that is the first of its kind. The children, aged 10 and under, will be taught meditation techniques practiced by devotees of Sahaja Yoga, a method of meditation…
Source: Times of India AMEDABAD, INDIA, JANUARY 1, 2002: As if the existing increase in the divorce rate in India wasn’t enough, people are actually now planning to get married during astrologically inauspicious times. For example, some so-called progressive Gujaratis have started ignoring the no-marriages-during Kamurta tradition. Many are getting married in Kamurta (December 14 to January 14), a time…
GO TO SOURCE WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, January 4, 2002: Are you planning a trip to India with children? Taking your children to India is like giving them an intense course in culture and family life of India and it can become overwhelming to both parents as well as children. One thing you can do is have your children take pictures. Buy…
Source: Times of India CHENNAI, INDIA, January 3, 2002: About 60 volunteers of the Tamil Nadu unit of Shiv Sena were taken into custody on Wednesday when they attempted to take out a procession to former chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s residence here in protest against his reported remarks that applying “Vibhuti” (sacred ash) on the forehead was superstitious. Earlier, the…
GO TO SOURCE AFGHANISTAN, DECEMBER 30, 2001: The new Afghan Government has said it plans to rebuild the historic giant statues of Buddha at Bamiyan destroyed by the Taliban. The giant Buddhas were dynamited by the old regime which viewed them as an affront to Islam. The new Minister of Information and Culture, Raheen Makhdoom, said his government would like…