INDIA, September 18, 2026 (News India Times): Every year, Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Pune, goes crazy with Ganesh Utsava celebrations. In Maharashtra, it is a high-energy, deeply emotional, 10-day cultural phenomenon. While South Indian traditions are heavily rooted in temple-centric, scriptural Agama protocols, Maharashtrian celebrations are defined by an exuberant blend of intimate household hospitality and massive, roaring community street…
DENPASAR, BALI, September 15, 2026 (Voice of Indonesia): Hindu women play a pivotal role in the execution of yadnya in Bali, from preparing ritual paraphernalia to ensuring the smooth conduct of religious ceremonies. Yadnya, a term in Hinduism, refers to sincere and selfless offerings or sacred sacrifices made as a form of reverence to God, fellow humans, ancestors, and nature.…
CHENNAI, INDIA, September 13, 2026 (New Indian Express): Nearly two weeks after an emerald statue measuring two-and-a-half feet in height of Balamurugan Dhandayuthapani Swamy was reported stolen from the Nadu Palani temple near Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district, the police recovered it from an abandoned quarry nearby on Sunday and detained three men in connection with the incident. A police official…
BANGKOK, THAILAND, September 14, 2026 (Nation Thailand): Three Bangkok temples mark Ganesh Chaturthi from September 14-25, with worship ceremonies and farewell rituals in Kanchanaburi and Chonburi. The Department of Religious Affairs, under the Culture Ministry, is inviting the public to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi 2026, with activities centered on these major Hindu temples from September 14-25. The festival celebrates the birth…
INDIA, September 15, 2026 (AP News): Hindus across India began celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday, welcoming brightly decorated statues of Ganesha into their homes and worshiping at temporary public shrines. View short video: https://apnews.com/video/hindus-in-india-welcome-brightly-decorated-idols-of-ganesha-as-ganesh-chaturthi-celebrations-start-e113b732262848b59909b2d1ec5f5090
UNITED KINGDOM, September 14, 2026 (Latestly): Thousands of people gathered on the banks of the River Thames in London on Sunday for the first-ever Ganga Aarti in the UK, a traditional Hindu ceremony of light and thanksgiving organized by Chinmaya Mission UK in collaboration with the annual Totally Thames festival. Titled “Ganga Aarti on the Thames: A Ceremony of Light,”…
UNITED STATES, September 5, 2026 (New York Times): The St. Marien Church is a mid-20th-century landmark in northern Essen, Germany. It is slated for demolition in October of this year. It is one of more than 20,000 churches across Germany that is expected to be abandoned in the next five to 10 years. And further thousands of churches across Western…
SRI LANKA, August 31, 2026 (Lanka Web): The Hindu fightback against Christian missionary incursions in Jaffna during the British colonial period was a sophisticated, peaceful resistance movement known as the Saivite (or Hindu) Revival. Unlike the brutal, forced conversions under the Portuguese and Dutch, the British colonial administration utilized an educational and economic monopoly. They enticed locals to convert by…
SRI LANKA, August 31, 2026 (Christian Daily): For decades, religious persecution in Sri Lanka was framed mainly as Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist campaigns against Christians and Muslims, but a growing body of research points to a less-examined front: Hindu nationalist or Hindutva-style movements among Sri Lankan Tamils in the northern and eastern provinces drawing ideological and organizational support from India’s Hindu right.…
BENGAL, INDIA, September 7, 2026 (YouTube.com): A small concrete Siva Temple on the banks of the Ganga has fallen into the river after prolonged erosion on the river bank beneath it. Devotees cried and chanted as they watched the temple disappear within a manner of minutes. Videos with different angles of the event: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/9/7/indian-temple-collapses-into-ganges-as-riverbank-erodes#flips-6404726692112:0https://www.youtube.com/shorts/y_zqTzxpNbAhttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/FGHc1fCBy2A
