Source INDIA, January 12, 2016 (dna India): Mahettar Ram Tandon is still proud of the indelible message he carries almost five decades after he had the name of the Hindu God Ram tattooed over his entire body. Tandon is part of the Ramnami Samaj religious movement in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, one of India’s poorest regions. Denied entry to…
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, January 11, 2016 (Deccan Chronicle): The Madras High court today stayed a single judge’s order framing a dress code for devotees and all other visitors to temples under control of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department in the state. Justices V. Ramasubramanian and N. Kirubakaran stayed the order while admitting an appeal filed by the HR&CE department…
Source SINGAPORE, January 11, 2016 (News Asia): Live music will be allowed for this year’s Thaipusam street procession for the first time in more than four decades. The Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) and the police said yesterday that musicians, who have been given approval, can play specified traditional instruments at three points along the route.The instruments are the nadaswaram horn,…
Source A drop melting into the sea, this everyone can see. But the sea absorbed in a drop–this only a rare one can follow!— Saint Kabir (1440-1518)
Source SINGAPORE, January 6, 2016 (WISH): People in Singapore and possibly around the world, will have the opportunity to learn Hinduism in a structured manner from 2016. The Hindu Hub (Singapore) has launched an academic wing, called the World Institute for Hinduism (WISH) to cater to the growing need for credible and professional learning of Hinduism. WISH has multiple departments…
Source KOLKATA, INDIA, January 11, 2016 (Times of India): Did you know that at least 20 Hindu Deities are regularly worshipped in Japan? In fact, there are hundreds of shrines to Goddess Saraswati alone in that country, along with innumerable representations of Lakshmi, Indra, Brahma, Ganesha, Garuda and others. Even Deities forgotten in India are worshipped in Japan. A unique…
Source Rise above the cycle of unhappiness, desire, acquisition, excitement and unhappiness again.— Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of hinduism today
Source UNITED STATES, January 6, 2016 (Patheos, by Padma Kuppa): I was pleased to start the new year off with information about how, in pre-colonial India, Hindu temples were premier educational institutions. January also reminded me of my own pursuit of Hindu studies: several years ago, I wanted to enroll in a Hindu studies class at a local college, and…
Source HYDERABAD, INDIA, January 10, 2016 (Deccan Chronicle): Presiding Deities in temples will now own lands in Telangana [as is the traditional practice across India for Hindu temples]. The Telangana state government will be registering temple lands in the name of Gods and issue fresh deeds. Since the Deity is a perpetual minor in legal terms, endowment officials in the…
Source INDIA, January 8, 2016 (Press Information Bureau): The project of “Cultural Mapping of India” under which data of artists shall be collected, has been initiated by the Ministry of Culture in order to carry out a survey on Cultural Topography of the country. A number of meetings of experts has been held since 15 May, 2015 in order to…