GO TO SOURCE VIETNAM, June 23, 2001, A Siva Lingam monument, a relic from the lost Champa Kingdom, stands proudly at the My Son site in Vietnam. Statues depicting Lingam and Yoni can be found in Hindu-influenced cultures across the entire Asian region. But the Cham religion in Vietnam has taken these images and fashioned them into a distinctive and…
GO TO SOURCE MADISON, WISCONSIN, December 5, 2001: Frank Morales of the University of Wisconsin at Madison writes, “This proposed anthology will include papers by leading scholars and professors who specialize in many fields of South Asian Studies. These fields include: Religious Studies, Philosophy, History, Literature, Political Science, Languages, Indigenous Sciences, Anthropology, Geology, Psychology, Medical Sciences, Sociology, etc. The focus…
Source: HPI December 5, 2001: A report yesterday mistakenly identified Sri R. Venkataraman as “India’s President.” He is, of course, a past president of India. The present president is Sri K.R. Narayanan.
Source: India West LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, December 1, 2001: The dedication of girls to temples in India is the topic of “Maya,” a new film from director Dijvijay Singh. The film’s release was hailed for its unsparing depiction of India’s little-understood devadasi tradition. The film centers around twelve-year-old Maya (Nitya Shetty) who lives with her middle class family. The day…
GO TO SOURCE TIRUVANNAMALAI, INDIA, November 30, 2001: Hundreds of thousands of devotees witnessed the grand spectacle of the lighting of the Annamalai Maha Deepam (bonfire) on top of the 2,668-feet high Annamalai hills on the occasion of Krittika Deepam which marked the culmination of the 10-day Krittika Deepam festival here on Friday. Bonfires are lit near temples throughout South…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 15, 2001: Speaking out against religious conversion Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a Hindu spiritual leader, says at a meeting here, “If a person is converted by proselytization, he’s uprooted from his tradition. There’s a need to see we all live in harmony and mutual respect.” Despite these sentiments, conversion is a reality throughout India…
GO TO SOURCE VARANASI, INDIA, December 3, 2001: George Harrison’s intimate relationship with Indian mysticism, music and Hinduism sent his wife and son on a pilgrimage to the holy Ganges river in India, where his ashes will be scattered. No report has appeared as to where or when Harrison’s widow, Olivia and his 23-year-old son, Dhani, were to arrive, but…
Source: Times of India NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 27, 2001: Teenagers in Delhi are conformists to the core — they are more religious than their peers in other metros and want mama to choose their life partners. A recent survey conducted by Hyderabad-based market research firm NFO-MBL over five metros found 53 per cent of Delhi’s youngsters saying religion was…
GO TO SOURCE BANGKOK, THAILAND, Dec 2, 2001: Khun Phra, Thailand’s esteemed royal white elephant, is in the pink of health and that spells good news for a nation worried about its shaky economy. Thailand considers white elephants to be highly auspicious and deserving of the greatest care. The country has 11 white elephants chosen on the basis of distinct…
GO TO SOURCE HYDERABAD, INDIA, November 28, 2001: Up until recently, the outer walls of temple compounds have had advertising on them as well as film posters and political agendas. Desperate to maintain temples in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the government, with prompting from the Endowment Department, allowed billboards to be erected within the temple premises. Temple trustees at…