Source INDIA, March 18, 2016 (Times of India): Mangalsutra, the wedding chain worn by Hindu women, is usually chosen according to the customs of the groom’s family, with gold being the common element in all. It is equivalent to the ring worn in Western wedding tradition. Every region has its own beautiful interpretation of the marital cord though. Maharashtrians wear…
Source SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, March 27, 2016 (Hindu Education Foundation): After protests from students and parents, the California Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) has rejected suggestions by a group of professors to replace the word “India” with “South Asia” in California textbooks. A group of professors including Sheldon Pollock, Robert Goldman, Lawrence Cohen and Kamala Visweswaran, under the name…
Source INDIA, February 13, 2015 (FT Magazine by Victor Mallet): Gaumukh, nearly 13,000 ft up in the foothills of the Himalayas, the source of the River Ganges, is one of the most sacred places in Hinduism. But in truth the entire river, flowing for more than 1,550 miles across north India from the mountainous haunts of the snow leopard to…
Source The real change must happen within us. For only when conflict and negativity are removed from within can we play a truly constructive role in establishing peace. — Mata Amritanandamayi Ma, India’s Kerala-based hugging saint
Source HARIDWAR, INDIA, March 16, 2016 (Economic Times): At Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved’s manufacturing facility in Haridwar, there is brisk activity as cartons of freshly made products are being loaded onto trucks to be dispatched to stores across India. With the financial year nearing a close, an official pointed explained, all hands are on the deck to help the company…
Source It is easy to tame the rogue elephant. It is easy to tie the mouth of a bear. It is easy to mount the back of a lion. It is easy to charm poisonous snakes. It is easy to conquer the celestial and the noncelestial realms. It is easy to trek the worlds invisible. It is easy to command…
Source SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, March 17, 2016: A petition on the above topic has been posted at change.org. The introduction reads: School students in California will be forced to learn that there was never an “India” unless you act! A small group of South Asia studies faculty recently asked the California Board of Education to change the History Social Science…
Source KANTHMANDU, NEPAL, March 18, 2016 (Kathmandu Post): Pashupatinath Temple witnessed nearly 1.5 million footfalls during the two-week long Maha Shivaratri fair, organizers said. According to the organizers, the fair has been able to do a business of around US$1.8 million so far. The Maha Shivaratri Festival and Industrial Trade Fair 2016 which began at Pashupatinath on March 8, a…
Source If you long to see God, take to spiritual practices. What is the good of merely crying, “O God! O God!”?— Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886)
Source INDIA, March 15, 2016 (Press Information Bureau): A total number of 297 Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) Colleges are imparting Ayurveda education in the country. The total intake capacity in Under-graduate course of Ayurveda is 17,192 students and in Post-graduate courses is 3,661 students every year. Government of India has approved and notified National AYUSH Mission (NAM) on Sept.…