HPI Reader on “Theft of Sita” Play

Source: Hinduism Today OXFORD, ENGLAND, November 17, 2001: “In my opinion,” writes A. Khaitan of Oxford University, “The ‘Theft of Sita’ play is nothing more than an attempt to disparage what the Hindu epic, Ramayana, is about. I saw the play tonight (in Oxford) and was utterly disgusted. Far from sticking to the true Ramayana, the play made references to…

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Request for Video Tape and Clippings

GO TO SOURCE KAUAI, HAWAII, November 17, 2001: HPI readers are kindly requested to forward to us at “source” above any reports they find upon the Maha Samadhi of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. We are particularly trying to get a video tape of the CNN report aired a few days ago. This may be mailed to Hinduism Today, 107 Kaholalele Road,…

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Russian Postal Service Suspicious of Holy Ash

Source: Hinduism Today RUSSIA, November 16, 2001: A letter arriving from the Hawaii ashram home of Hinduism Today containing sacred ash, vibhuti, from the temple ceremonies, to a devotee here attracted considerable interest from the local postal authorities. They summoned the recipient to the post office, where 15 officials waited, concerned that they had just discovered an anthrax-laden letter. The…

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Temple Monkey Helps Police Recover Stolen Icon

GO TO SOURCE BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, November 14, 2001: The icon of Lord Madan Mohan, made of astadhatu, an alloy of eight metals including gold and silver, and weighing 18 kilograms, was found in a well inside the 12th century Jagannath Temple complex in Puri, about 56 km from here. Icons of Lord Madan Mohan and Lord Narayan, both avatars of…

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Theft of Sita Play in UK

GO TO SOURCE LONDON, U.K., November 10, 2001: A joint Australian-Indonesian venture The Ramayana written and directed by Nigel Jamieson and brought to the U.K. by the London International Festival of Theatre received rave reviews from theater critics. The story from the Hindu epic and dealing with the abduction of Sita by Ravana took on a different perspective as it…

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Few Divali Fireworks this Year

GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 13, 2001: The festival of lights and fireworks, Divali, is just round the corner but wholesalers of firecrackers in the capital have done only a fraction of the business they normally do. Compared to a business of around US$13,000 that they averaged in the last ten to seven days before Divali last year,…

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Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, World Hindu Leader, Passes Away at 74

GO TO SOURCE KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, November 13, 2001: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, one of Hinduism’s foremost spiritual teachers, a prolific author and publisher of Hinduism Today magazine and Hindu Press International news service, passed away today at age 74 at his ashram home on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, USA. A spokesperson for the ashram said the Hindu master discovered…

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Icon Recovered from Well Inside Puri Temple

GO TO SOURCE PURI, INDIA, November 12, 2001: The icon of Madan Mohan, found missing from Sri Jagannath Temple, was recovered from inside a well in the temple complex on Monday, official sources said. Another icon of Narayani, also missing since Sunday, is yet to be traced. The two feet high astadhatu (eight metals) idol of Madan Mohan, regarded as…

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Returning to Religion — Fashion or Natural Transition?

GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, USA, November 10, 2001: Shoba Narayan, a working mother residing in New York, reflects on her return to religion. “Recently, I had an epiphany of the sort one normally experiences in middle age: I realized that, within my social circle, religion had become quite fashionable. Many of my friends are middle-aged Hindu Indians with successful…

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