Source MADURAI, INDIA, April 21, 2016 (The Hindu): Exquisitely decorated temple cars of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here waded through a sea of people along the Masi Streets on the penultimate day of the annual Chithirai festival on Wednesday. The Deities – Lord Sundareswarar with Piriyavidai and Goddess Meenakshi – ascended the respective cars before sunrise and devotees started to pull…
Source MUMBAI, INDIA, April 22, 2016 (Daily Pioneer): After two failed attempts, women activists owing allegiance to Pune-based Swarajya Sanghatana finally entered the sanctum sanctorum of Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik district of north Maharashtra, amidst tight security. A day after several activists were manhandled by villagers when they tried to gain entry inside Garbha Griha of Swarajya Sanghatana president Vanita…
Source UJJAIN, INDIA, April 22, 2016 (NewsX Bureau): Madhya Pradesh’s holy city Ujjain has geared up for the biggest religious convergence of Hindus – Simhastha-Kumbh Mela which began on April 22nd. Over 50 million devotees are expected to visit the holy city. The Simhastha – one of the biggest Hindus faithful gatherings commenced with shahi snaan (royal bath) in Shipra…
Source UNITED KINGDOM, April 17, 2016 (Independent): This [somewhat inaccurate] video depicts the growth and spread of the world’s two largest religions over a span of 2,000 years. Represented in white and green, respectively, Christianity and Islam spring up from obscurity in the Middle East to morph into globe-spanning juggernauts. It was produced last year by the Western Conservatory of…
Source BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA, April 17, 2016 (Latin America Herald Tribune): The size of the Hindu community in Indonesia’s northwest Aceh province is small, but Sunday devotees made a big impression with their Thaipusam festival. About 500 people from the Tamil community joined Thaipusam celebrations since Friday for the three-day festival, which culminated Sunday with a procession of singing, dancing…
Source KATHMANDU VALLEY, NEPAL, April 19, 2016 (Nikkei Asian Review): Deftly handling tiny chisels and swabs of cloth, a dozen village women painstakingly chip away the crust and grime of centuries, restoring to life images of Brahma, Vishnu and other Hindu Deities that grace an architectural masterwork.The skilled workers are putting the finishing touches to a shrine at Changu Narayan,…
Source Those from a religious background who believe that “There is only one life and when it’s over, it’s over ” generally cry and have a very unhappy time over the departure of a loved one. This is very disturbing to the loved one from where they are in the inner world wondering, “Why the grief?” Because they are fine.…
KAUAI, HAWAII, April 20, 2016 (HPI): Readers finally pointed out to us that our letters to the editor module on hinduismtoday.com was not working correctly for several weeks. It’s been fixed, and please, if you had something to say, but couldn’t, just email us directly at letters@hindu.org, or go through the “About Us” tab on the website. We very much…
Source Upon dying, a man is greeted on the other side by Lord Yama, who immediately begins helping him determine his next step in the inner worlds. Lord Yama says, “Your karmic record is not clear to me. Is there something exceptional you have done that I should know about?” The man responded, “I was walking down the street with…
Source HAVANA, CUBA, November 24, 2016 (14y Medio): In the 90s, when some Cubans chose to flee the country on a raft, Elsa Hermida found that practicing yoga was the best way to overcome the crisis that surrounded her. It was at that time, at the gothic Sacred Heart church in the Havana city center, that she met Professor Eduardo…