Source: The Tribune, November 1, 2000 PATNA, INDIA: The four day festival of Chatth kicks off Wednesday in Bihar State, India. Millions of Hindus are expected to congregate along different rivers and lakes in the state for the do-it-yourself offerings which require no priests. Similar religious festivals involving millions of Hindus–a scale never seen in the West–will occur all over…
Source: Press Trust of India DELHI, INDIA: Indian Railways announced a special fare for pilgrims from Delhi to the Vaishno Devi Shrine near Jammu, on the border with Kashmir, 500 miles from Delhi. This famed shrine to the Goddess attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year. Now they can travel by train and bus from Delhi, stay in hotels,…
Source: Hindustan Times, October 30 DELHI, INDIA: 72,000 Muslims from India will make the pilgrimage to Mecca this year financed by the Indian government at US$435 each to cover airfare and accommodations to Saudi Arabia. The subsidy, which totals US$32 million, allows poorer Muslims to make the requiste once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage. The subsidy was increased over last year due to increase…
GO TO SOURCE COLOMBO, SRI LANKA: In a remarkable development in the long Sri Lanka civil war, Norwegian special envoy Eric Solheim met the leader of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, in the jungles of Wannai, northern Sri Lanka. Norway has long sought to help mediate the conflict, but during the last state elections it appeared their help was no…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com
Source: www.siliconindia.com CHENNAI, INDIA, July 26, 2010: A number of temples and religious bodies in Tamilnadu are applying for the International Standard Organization’s (ISO) certification. This step has been initiated by the state government’s Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department. Three popular temples — the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane and Dhandayudhapani Temple in Vadapalani —…
Source: “Schedule tribes or endogenous communities are amongst the most ecologically evolved communities amongst the world, but sadly also amongst the most economically backward ones in India,” says Darren Lobo of Grassroutes. He informs that most tribal villages just receive two-three hours of electricity per day, hampering a child’s ability to read or play once the sun sets. Lobo says,…
Source: HPI (by G.K. Nair, correspondent) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, June 30: Mr P. Parameswaran, Hinduism Today’s Hindu of the Year 2010, has received the award from the magazine’s correspondent in Kerala, G.K. Nair. Speaking on behalf of Hinduism Today, Nair said, “to raise India to the heights Vivekananda spoke of is no easy task, but that is the defining thread…
Source: www.uwf.edu [HPI note: Dr. M. Lal Goel, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at The University of West Florida, wrote about the similarities between India’s caste system and American society. You can read the full article at the source link, above. Here is a summary provided by the author.] UNITED STATES, July 30, 2010: A recent article in Newsweek by…
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com ALLAHABAD, INDIA, October 27, 2010: When it comes to lighting on Diwali, diyas (traditional oil lamps made of clay) occupy a special place. Despite the influx of LED lights and Chinese bulbs, people in the city are still going for the traditional diyas this Diwali. With the changing trends, potters too are wheeling out designer diyas. A potter…