KAUAI, HAWAII, August 14, 2024 (Hinduism Today): Millions of Hindu women consider Navaratri the year’s central festival, the one they most deeply connect to. These nine days dedicated to Shakti, the Goddess, provide an opportunity to seek blessings and commune with their own divinity. It is a time for sacred gatherings, austerities, selfless acts and intimate prayers. But Navaratri is…
KAUAI, HAWAII, August 9, 2024 (Hinduism Today): During Ganesha Chaturthi, a ten-day festival in August/September, elaborate puja ceremonies are held in Hindu temples around the world honoring clay images of Ganesha that the family makes or obtains. At the end of ten days, Hindus join in a grand parade, called visarjana in Sanskrit, to a river, temple tank, lake or…
UNITED STATES, August 9, 2024 (CDC): This report describes national estimates for adults age 18 and older who practiced yoga, and among those, adults who practiced yoga to restore overall health, for meditation as part of yoga, or to treat or manage pain. The estimates are reported by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, and family income using data from…
KAUAI, HAWAII, August 9, 2024 (Hinduism Today): Diwali is India’s best-known festival, known for its mountains of sweets and savory snacks. It is a day of Hindu solidarity, when all Hindus gather in love and trust. It is observed by lighting rows of oil lamps and exchanging greeting cards, clothing and other gifts. Family bonds are strengthened and forgiveness sought.…
HARIDWAR, August 1, 2024 (Jagran): Thursday is the last day of the Kanwar Yatra. The Kanwar fair, which reached its peak in the religious city echoing with the chants of Bam-Bam Bhole, has reached the pinnacle of supreme splendor. A flood of faith and devotion has surged in the lap of Ganga at Hari’s door, Haridwar, the religious city is…
LAOS, July 30, 2024 (OpIndia): The statue of Shri Ram Lalla, depicting Lord Ram in his child form, is the central Deity of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, and Lao PDR’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Saleumxay Kommasith, jointly unveiled a special commemorative postage stamp set during a ceremony in Vientiane, the…
PARIS, FRANCE, July 25, 2024 (Le Matin, Google translated from French): At the northern end of the Olympic Village, a unique center has been created. The multi-faith center houses five prayer rooms: Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu. In the latter, Lipee Patel, Vaibhavi Kishorkumar Parekh and Pavitra Patel have taken time off from their jobs or studies in the…
PARIS, FRANCE, June 10, 2024 (Religion News): As athletes rev up their training and organizers finalize everything from ceremonies to podiums before the Paris Olympics, more than 120 faith leaders are preparing for a different challenge — spiritually supporting some 10,000 Olympic athletes from around the world, especially those whose medal dreams will inevitably get crushed. “We’ll need to bring…
PARIS, FRANCE, July 29, 2024 (Religion News Service): For the more than 11,040 athletes from more than 200 countries in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the games are not just one of the most physically intense moments of their lives, but psychologically intense as well, as years of training and hoping may be realized or lost in mere moments.…
INDIA, July 28, 2024 (BBC): In the eastern foothills of India’s Himalayas, livestock farmer Yang Ering Moyong slips on a baggy shirt and trousers and heads out in the early morning. As she stomps through the dense shrubbery in the hills surrounding the village of Mirem, she lets out a high-pitched call summoning her mithuns, a semi-wild and endangered cattle…
