Source INDIA, June 17, 2016 (International Business Times): Tirupati Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, the world’s richest Hindu temple and managed by the state government’s Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board/trust, will earn approximately US$388 million in revenue for this year, reported IANS, citing officials of the trust. Out of this amount, $149 million is expected in offerings (also called hundi) by…
Source The test of a man is how much he can bear and how much he can share and how soon he confesses a mistake and makes amends for it.— Dada J.P. Vaswani
Source INDIA, June 10, 2016 (Press Information Bureau): The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has issued a report on a large project for the repair and construction of national highways across India to connect and facilitate major pilgrimage routes. The status of pilgrimage routes and work on individual stretches for Kailash-Mansarovar, Chardham, the Buddhist Circuit, Ram-Van-Gaman, and Ram-Janaki, among…
www.thehindu.com INDIA, June 16, 2016 (The Hindu): In a state where the temples are seldom managed based on their heritage or historic value, the statues of several temples in far flung districts are bound to fall prey to the statue smugglers such as Deenadayalan and Subash Kapoor. Thousands of ancient temples in the state are dependent on the finances of…
Source INDIA, June 17, 2016 (The Hindu): A documentary on the life of the guru who inspired millions is now releasing in India. Titled Awake: The Life of Yogananda, it traces the life of Paramahansa Yogananda from his birth in India to when he left for the U.S. as a 22-year-old to take the teachings of the East to the…
Source O God of mercy who performs the dance of illimitable happiness in the hall of inconceivable intelligence! The Rig and the other Vedas are thundering forth in words, announcing to us that all are thy slaves, all things belong to thee, all actions are thine, that thou pervades everywhere, that this is thy nature. Such is the teaching of…
Source BANGLADESH, June 16, 2016 (The Daily Star): Priests of different temples in the district are passing their days in panic since the murder of Hindu priest Ananda Gopal Ganguly on June 7. On that day, Ganguly, 70, was hacked to death in Jhenidah Sadar upazila in a manner similar to previous killings by suspected militants. After the incident, most…
Source NEPAL. June 15, 2016 (by Suzette Gutierrez Cachila, Christian Times): Seven Christians were arrested on Thursday, June 9, in Dolakha district, Nepal for allegedly converting people to Christianity. The seven Christians had reportedly distributed handkerchiefs together with Bible handbooks called “A Great Story” to a total of 885 students. Local authorities learned about the activity and reported it to…
Source Of all the scriptures in the world, it is the Vedas alone that declare that even the study of the Vedas is secondary. The real study is “that by which we realize the Unchangeable.” And that is neither reading, nor believing, nor reasoning, but superconscious perception, or samadhi.— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Source CALIFORNIA, U.S., June 10, 2016 (Time Magazine, by Christopher Key Chapple): On June 9, a law allowing patients with terminal illnesses to end their lives with help from a physician came into effect in California, opening conversations about whether human life should be prolonged against the desire to die peacefully and with dignity. A similar yet different conversation has…