News

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, February 21, 2025 (RNS): The first that the vast majority of turn-of-the-20th-century Americans heard of Swami Vivekananda was the speech the 30-year-old Hindu delegate gave at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1893 in Chicago. Vivekananda captivated his audience, addressing them as his “sisters and brothers,” and spoke about Hinduism’s teachings of the “oneness of existence” —…

PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA, February 23, 2025 (Travel and Tour World): Prayagraj is drowning in chaos as the Maha Kumbh Festival draws a jaw-dropping six-week total of six hundred million devotees, turning the city into a sea of humanity and crippling its infrastructure ahead of the sacred Maha Shivratri. With more than 10 million people pouring in daily since January 13, 2025,…

MUMBAI, INDIA, February 21, 2025 (VOA by Anjana Pasricha): Even for the world’s most-populous nation, the scale of a Hindu religious festival being held in India’s northern city of Prayagraj since mid-January is staggering. Surpassing previous numbers, the Maha Kumbh Mela that wraps up Wednesday has drawn more than half a billion devotees in the last six weeks, according to…

UNITED STATES,, February 17, 2025 (RNS): The winner of the 2025 Grammy Award for best new age, ambient or chant album — a category once dominated by Enya — was an album titled Triveni, meaning “the confluence of three rivers” in Sanskrit, an apt description for its weaving of Vedic chants, melodic flute and cello by India’s Chandrika Tandon, South…

FIJI, February 16, 2025 (The Fiji Times): A large crowd of over a thousand devotees gathered at the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple in Nadi yesterday to celebrate the Tamil Hindu festival, Thaipoosam. The auspicious occasion saw devotees from around Fiji pulling carts and dancing in celebration of the annual event. The Drik Panchang website defines Thaipusam or Thaipoosam as…

UNITED STATES, February 19, 2025 (YouTube): This video features colorized and upscaled footage from New York, London, Japan, India and more from the early 1900’s. The video shows scenes of everyday street life, commerce and transportation around the world from 1900 to 1909. Around the two minute mark is an elephant parade from 1902, possibly in Kerala, where the elephants…

PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA, February 14, 2025 (Indian Express): At the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, a nagar kirtan accompanied by a gurbani kirtan and a gatka performance was organized on January 11, marking the presence of the Nirmla Akhara, one of the three Sikh-related akharas (spiritual orders) that are part of the world’s largest religious gathering. Many Sikh followers visit the three…

INDIA, February 13, 2025 (The Organiser, by Yatharth Sikka): Kumbh is the largest spiritual gatherings in the world, where millions of devotees come together to take a dip at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj. Being a Gen-Z, I never considered religious rituals, worshipping or traditional practices a part of my daily life. However, my first experience at Maha Kumbh 2025…

VARANASI, INDIA, February 12, 2025 (Social News): The ancient city of Varanasi is witnessing an unprecedented influx of devotees as it prepares to host Naga Sadhus and saints ahead of Maha Shivratri. Following their participation in Prayagraj’s Maha Kumbh, revered saints have now arrived in the city, setting up a vibrant camp along the ghats of the River Ganga. Their…