Source GEORGETOWN, GUYANA, March 7, 2016 (Ministry of the Presidency): President David Granger, today, joined with the Hindu community at the Guyana Sevashram Sangha at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara for Maha Shivaratri observances. Though not a calendar holiday, Maha Shivaratri or Night of Shiva is a very significant festival for Hindus in Guyana. It is marked by fasting,…
Source INDIA, March 9, 2016 (Hindustan Times): Police detained a group of 40 women planning to break a centuries-old prohibition on the entry of female devotees into the sanctum sanctorum of the Trimbakeshwar temple in Mahrashtra’s Nashik district on Monday. The temple is located some 18 miles from Nashik and is a major Lord Shiva shrine, containing one of the…
Source Everything changes, everything passes; things appearing, things disappearing. But when all is over–being and extinction both transcended–still, the basic emptiness and silence abide, and that is blissful peace.— Mystical song from a Hindu story
Source BANGLADESH, March 7, 2016 (Christian Today): Amid a spate of attacks by Muslim extremists on people belonging to minority groups, Bangladesh is reportedly considering abandoning Islam as its official religion. A report by the Daily Mail said the country’s Supreme Court has started hearing arguments that challenge Islam’s status as the official religion of Bangladesh. The move comes amid…
Source HARIDWAR, INDIA , March 9, 2016 (Tribune News Service): Nearly two million pilgrims took a holy bath in the Ganga on the occasion of Shivratri and fifth festive bath of Ardh Kumbh here today. Pilgrims in large numbers thronged the sanctum-sanctorum of Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats from early morning hours. The huge attendance is a result…
Source KATHMANDU, NEPAL, March 8, 2016 (Himalayan Times): Half-a-million devotees from different parts of the country as well as from India, Malayasia and other countries visited Pashupatinath temple today to worship Lord Shiva. It is believed to be the day Shiva was born to save the universe by drinking haalaahala, the poison that emerged from the churning of the ocean…
Source Do not say that you do not have time for God. The busiest of men will have the most leisure, and the laziest will always be short of time, for the former utilizes time and the latter only wastes it. If you really want God, you will find time for Him.— Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati (1912-1954), 34th pontiff of the…
Source SAMBALPUR, INDIA, Marh 8, 2016 (New Indian Express): Thousands of devotees made beelines to Shiva temples across western Odisha on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri on Monday. With Shaivism flourishing in the region due to the rule of Chauhan dynasty in the region, Shiva temples dot the landscape. In the undivided district of Sambalpur, a large number of Shiva…
Source TAMIL NADU, INDIA, March 5, 2016 (The News Minute): About 25 miles from the famous Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu, is a little known temple dedicated to a formless God, built by Manikkavasakar, an iconic 9th century Tamil poet and saint. The temple, called Avudaiyarkovil, stands in a small town in the Pudukkottai district. The town was originally called…
Source RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK, March 4, 2016 (DNA Info): An annual parade to celebrate the spring Hindu festival of Holi will return to Liberty Avenue this year after one of the feuding organizers accused an NYPD boss of canceling last year’s permit as a favor to a friend. This year’s Phagwah Parade is set to kick off at Liberty…