Source JAMMU KASHMIR, INDIA July 8, 2016 (Sahara Samay News): Over 71,000 pilgrims have performed the Amarnath Yatra so far as another batch of 1,612 pilgrims left Jammu on Thursday. An official of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the annual pilgrimage said, “A total of 1,612 pilgrims comprising 1,266 males and 346 females left…
Source VIJAYAWADA, INDIA, July 7, 2016 (Deccan Chronicle): Seers from across the state have suggested that pilgrims avoid the Pavitra Sangamam — where the Godavari water from the Pattiseema project meets the Krishna — and areas downstream of the river from that point during Krishna Pushkaralu festival. They raised the issue after the government’s decision to release Godavari waters into…
Source They have “Dial-a-Prayer” for atheists now. You call it up, it rings and rings, but nobody answers.
Source TAMIL NADU, INDIA, July 7, 2016 (BBC News): The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s “Amma Canteens,” which serve cheap meals to hundreds of thousands of people daily, have become immensely popular with the poor and the middle classes. The menu today includes rice cooked with lentils and spices and curd rice. The former is selling for seven cents a…
Source HYDERABAD, INDIA, July 5, 2016 (Deccan Chronicle): Land belonging to temples has become a soft target for encroachers, with a preliminary inquiry by endowments department showing that over 14,500 acres had been encroached upon. The inquiry revealed that large scale encroachments took place in the last 15 years due to the sharp rise in land prices. Lack of coordination…
Source When individuals change for the better, then society will change, and when society changes, then the country will change.— Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
Source HOUSTON, TEXAS, July 5, 2016 (Houston Chronicle, by Kavita Pallod): For me, as for most tweens, middle school was a time of all-encompassing awkwardness. I didn’t know what to do with my oddly proportioned limbs, how to dress while my mom was still shopping for me, what was acceptable to pack for lunch or even how to greet my…
Source TIRUVANNAMALAI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA July 2, 2016 (by A.D Balasubramaniyan, The Hindu): Activists in Tiruvannamalai opposing the move to widen the girivalam (circumambulation) path, have decided to come together to protest against the work. Work has begun for the digging of a ditch for a 12-km long drainage line along the proposed foot path. Many activists, environmentalists, pilgrims and…
Source UNITED STATES, July 2, 2016 (NCBI Abstract): HPI note: We found this an interesting investigation into both ritual and placebo effect. It is from a scientific, not mystical viewpoint, obviously, but still food for thought. Using a comparative analysis of Navajo healing ceremonials, acupuncture and biomedical treatment, this essay examines placebo studies and ritual theory as mutually interpenetrating disciplines.…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 2, 2016 (Prameya News7): The Supreme Court on Friday decided to intervene in an issue described by the Madras high court as “land of lords in trouble” and expressed concern over rampant encroachment, misuse and misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of acres of temple lands. Appearing for the petitioner, advocate K K Mani said Tamil…