Source RAMESWARAM, INDIA, February 27, 2019 (Deccan Chronicle): Several hundred thousand pilgrims from different parts of India are expected to congregate in Rameswaram for the coming Shivarathri festival on March 4 this year, as it is a rare occasion with astronomical significance reappearing after 54 years. The Shivarathri Punyakaalam this year is accompanied by the transits of the planets of…
Source The major way a family person makes spiritual progress is by fulfilling all duties–duties to spouse, duties to children, duties to parents, duties to community. When we fulfill our duties as best we can, we make spiritual progress. We don’ have to go anywhere else. We don’t have to give up our duties and spend time in a cave.…
Source INDIA, February 24, 2019 (opindia.com): Hinduism and its reach are noticeable in the immediate neighborhood, with a deep influence on Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan & even Burma. However, in South East Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam; the influence of Hinduism is even more obvious. Hinduism has also spread to other corners of…
Source The tragedy of human history is that there is decreasing happiness in the midst of increasing comforts. — Swami Chinamayananda, (1916-1993)
Source HOUSTON, TEXAS, February 21, 2019 (Houston Chronicle): Gopal Aggarwal recently returned home to Sugar Land from what is the largest faith gathering in the world — the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage held every three years in India. “Kumbh Mela is a wonderful, big festival of unity,” Aggarwal said. “I love it. It’s a wonderful blessing.” He and his…
Source There is a proverb in our language: “If want to be a hunter, I’ll hunt the rhinoceros; if I want to be a robber, I’ll rob the king’s treasury.” What is the use of robbing beggars or hunting ants? So if you want to love, love God. — Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Source INDIA, February 20, 2019 (The News Minute): The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the body which oversees the Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala, unveiled a budget of approx. US$438 million for 2019-20 and said that it was expected cash offerings alone to account for $173 million of the total amount. Speaking to reporters, TTD chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav said that according…
Source PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA, February 20, 2019 (NDTV): The devotion of pilgrims at the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati gave way to some breathtaking pictures from Kumbh Mela on the occasion of Maghi Purnima. The stunning aerial visuals of the holy occasion have been shared by news agency ANI on Twitter. Hundreds of thousands…
Source It is the nature of desire never to be fulfilled, but he who utterly gives it up is eternally fulfilled at that very moment. — Tirukural 370
Source INDIA, September 21, 2017 (Quartz India by Vijay Prashad): In 1950, Aime Cesaire, one of the clearest voices of the 20th century, looked back at the long history of colonialism that was coming to an end. He wanted to judge colonialism from the ashes of Nazism, an ideology that surprised the innocent in Europe but which had been fostered…