Source: Associated Press LUCKNOW, INDIA, January 18: The BBC and an independent TV station were accused by state authorities of being insensitive to Hindus when they focused their filming on scantily dressed women bathers and naked holy men at the Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, northern India. Sadakant, the festival commissioner alleged that the two networks misused their access to the…
GO TO SOURCE FARIDABAD, INDIA, January 13: In protest of the demolition of the Sidhdata Ashram, a crowd of over 1,000 devotees marched in angry protest, raising anti-government slogans and snarling traffic on major highways. On January 9, the Faridabad Administration demolished Sidhdata Ashram, a huge temple complex. While the ashram people assert that they had applied for allotment of…
Source: Hinduism Today, Paras Ramoutar SAN JUAN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: With Gandhian spirit Pundit Rambachan, spiritual leader of the El Socorro Hindu Temple in San Juan, uplifts the Hindu community. At 43 years of age he serves the Hindu faith tirelessly by conducting regular visits to homes, leading satsangs, offering personal guidance, and hosting a radio program. Instilling religious pride…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, D.C., January 17, 2001: Biotech companies that produce genetically modified foods will now have to operate under more stringent guidelines, albeit those endorsed by the companies themselves. New government rules proposed by the Food and Drug Administration require companies to give four months advance notice before marketing new products. Description of the genetic modification used and…
Source: The Telegraph, Calcutta MAIDAN, INDIA, January 9, 2001: Compared to the expected annual 50,000 sadhus that pilgrimage to Maiden for Ganga Sagar Mela, a mere 5,000 are present. Small numbers are attributed to the Maha Kumbh Mela, a rare sacred event coinciding with Ganga Mela this year.Volunteer organizations are disappointed with the turnout at Maidan after preparation for a…
Source: Madhya Pradesh Chronicle AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT, January 8, 2001: Other major cities have reverted to their pre-colonial names, Bombay to Mumbai and Madras to Chennai. Now major Hindu organizations in Gujarat’s city of Ahmedabad are pushing for a name change from Ahmedabad to Karnavati. Karna Deva was the name of a Hindu sovereign that defeated a tribal ruler in the…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, January 2001: Wicca, also known as the Goddess movement, Goddess spirituality, or the Craft, appears to be the fastest-growing religion in America, according to this article in The Atlantic. It is estimated that there are now more than 200,000 adherents of Wicca and related “neopagan” faiths in the United States. Wiccans often call…
Source: Vishwa Hindu Parishad Press Release HOUSTON, TEXAS, January 15, 2001: More than 2,500 of Houston’s Hindu children women, and men, a record number, turned out for the annual Makara Sankranti Kite Flying Celebration sponsored by Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America’s Houston chapter members, Gujarati Samaj of Houston and Leuva Patidar Samaj. The event correspondents to Pongal in South India…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, January, 16, 2001: Four Shankaracharyas are planning to announce their own sant sansad (meeting of saints) ahead of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s dharam sansad scheduled to start on January 19 at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Reports suggest that VHP leaders have become frantic for if they were to take the Shankaracharyas head-on, their…
Source: Hinduism Today, Francois Gautier, Correspondent PONDICHERRY, INDIA, January 17, 2001: The Kumbha Mela, which is taking place at the moment in Allahabad, demonstrates once again to what extent Western journalism, when it is applied to India, harps on the anecdotal, the superfluous, the derogatory, deforms everything and transforms what is beautiful and noble into a show of freaks and…