Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 8, 2016 (Gulf News): New Delhi: A liquor ban imposed in the Indian state of Bihar was supposed to clean up public life. But it has had the unintended effect of deterring Hindu followers from temples, where liquor is a traditional offering. Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar this week fulfilled an election pledge to introduce…
Source DHAKA, BANGLADESH, February 22, 2016 (Daily Times): Suspected militants stabbed and killed a Hindu priest at a temple in Bangladesh on Sunday, and shot and injured a devotee who went to his aid, police said. Bangladesh has suffered a wave of militant violence in recent months, including a series of bomb attacks on mosques and Hindu temples. Some of…
Source There the eye goes not, nor words, nor mind. We know not. We cannot understand how He can be explained. He is above the known, and He is above the unknown. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained this truth to us.— Sama Veda, Kena Upanishad 1.3
Source INDIA, November 2, 2016 (Earth We Are One): India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests have made a groundbreaking decision to completely forbid the keeping of captive dolphins for public entertainment in the entire country. A statement about their new policy was released Friday, the ministry advised the state governments to deny any proposals that requested the establishment of a…
Source FLORIDA, April 8, 2016 (Press Release): A new monograph, Monistic Theism of the Tirumandiram (Thirumandiram) and Kashmir Saivism, written by Dr. T.N. Ganapathy, Ph D. and Dr. Geeta Ananda, Ph D. discusses the debate over whether the Tirumandiram advocates pluralistic realism or monistic theism. Essentially the debate boils down to the question of “Are there three eternal realities: God,…
Source KOLLAM, KERALA, April 10, 2016 (rt.com): At least 62 people have died and more than 150 were injured after celebratory firecrackers reportedly caused a massive fire at a Hindu temple located in a coastal town near Kollam in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The fire broke out at Puttingal Temple in the town of Paravur early on Sunday,…
Source AHMEDNAGAR, INDIA, April 8, 2016 (Tribune India): In a big victory to the campaign for gender equality, the famed Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra on Friday lifted the centuries-old ban on entry of women at the sanctum sanctorum, yielding to a high voltage crusade by activists and court directions. Soon after the temple trust announced the decision to facilitate…
Source Love is seeing and feeling life everywhere. When your heart is full of love, you sense life pulsating through all creation.— Mata Amritanandamayi Ma, Kerala-based hugging saint
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, April 5, 2016 (Deccan Chronicle): The Madras high court set aside an order of a single judge directing the state government to impose a dress code on devotees worshipping in Tamil Nadu temples. Allowing an appeal from the state government, a division bench comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian and K. Ravichandrabaabu said, “Courts are not expected to adjudicate…
Source HARIDWAR, INDIA, April 1, 2016 (New York Times): Baba Ramdev is surrounded by the trappings of any major corporate leader almost anywhere in the world. But Mr. Ramdev is also an Indian swami, having renounced all worldly pleasures and possessions. Famous for bringing yoga to the Indian masses, Mr. Ramdev, 50, is also the leader a group of spiritual…