THAILAND, October 12, 2025 (Bangkok Post): The recent reopening of the Erawan Shrine was presided over by the chief of Brahmins (photo above, Phra Maharaja Guru Bidhi Sri Visudhigun) known as the Rajguru. A man dressed in white blew into a conch as if it were a horn. Joss sticks were burning. Heads bowed but people’s lips were praying. A…
UNITED STATES, June 17, 2024 (Pew Research Center): By some measures, East Asia seems like one of the least religious regions in the world. (“East Asia” includes China, Japan, Mongolia, the Koreas and Taiwan) Relatively few East Asian adults pray daily or say religion is very important in their lives. And rates of disaffiliation – people leaving religion – are…
UNITED STATES, June 18, 2024 (Christianity Today): HPI Note: We thought this article attempting to excuse the slave ownership by the founders of the modern Evangelical movement quite informative. How should white evangelicals think about slavery and past evangelical heroes who affirmed its practice? A new book by historian Sean McGever, Ownership: The Evangelical Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley,…
FRANCE, June 11, 2024 (Embassy of France in Cambodia, Google translated from French): The great reclining Vishnu of Western Mebon, the largest bronze statue ever found on the Angkor site, has arrived in France to be studied before its exhibition in 2025. It is one of the treasures of the National Museum of Cambodia and a symbol of the exceptional…
KAUAI, HAWAII, June 19, 2024 (Hinduism Today, by Anne Petry): Is there any other country in the world as colorful as India? Indian clothing is a visual explosion of vibrant and bright colors. I am always amazed by the tremendous variety of textiles and huge diversity of traditional outfits. All this is possible thanks to the knowledge of weaving mastered…
UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, June 15, 2024 (PTC News): In a pioneering move to enhance accessibility and spiritual experience, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Uttar Pradesh has introduced 11 minutes and 50 seconds of virtual reality Darshan. This will allow the devotees to avoid standing in a long queue in the scorching heat to get the darshan. This initiative aims to…
UNITED STATES, June 16, 2024 (New India Abroad): Did Covid-19 change yoga? Of course. Most visibly, many yoga studios shuttered, and classes went online. But in the aftermath of the worst pandemic in a century, the content of a yoga class is also changing, hastening the trend of recent decades to adapt to the more stressful times we live in.…
NEW JERSEY, U.S., June 10, 2024 (RNS): At the funeral of Nikunj Trivedi’s uncle a few years ago, the hours-long Hindu funeral rites at a cremation site in New Jersey were compressed to fit a time limit. Only around 10 family members were able to stay with the body during the service, which would have been attended by hundreds of…
KAUAI, HAWAII, June 10, 2024 (Hinduism Today, by Lavina Melwani): When immigrant families leave India for foreign shores, they often can carry only what fits into a suitcase. Along with the photographs, the sacred texts and the masalas they bring to their new homes, they also bring a lifetime of memories and culture to gift to their children. But the…
UNITED STATES, June 6, 2024 (HerZindagi): When Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams lifted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule on Wednesday, she made history as the first female astronaut to fly on the inaugural flight of a crewed spacecraft, according to NBC News. But the pioneering spaceflyer didn’t leave her Indian heritage behind on Earth for this milestone mission. Among the items…
