Source KERALA, INDIA, January 12, 2016 (The Hindu): The Kerala Folklore Akademi at Chirakkal here has come alive with the exhibition of techniques and craft of a style of metal casting that survives among the tribal people of Bastar in Chattisgarh. Called Dhokra, it is apparently the earliest known method of metal casting. A group of 10 Dhokra artisans from…
Source INDORE, INDIA, January 11, 2016 (Zee News): Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of Hindu ascetic organisations, has refused to grant recognition to the newly-formed Kinnar Akhara, the religious representation of eunuchs, to participate in Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela (held in Ujjain in 2016) even as the Kinnar members asserted that they do not need permission from the ABAP…
Source God is within you. He has no eyes, no ears, but we place Him outside and worship. God has become father, mother and guru. God has become this mango tree also. God has become you and He has become I.— Satguru Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lanka’s most revered contemporary mystic
Source GERMANY, January 12, 2016 (Religion Watch): As a radical stream of vegetarianism, veganism–that refuses any product of animal origin, including eggs, milk or honey–bears many of the marks of a religious belief, writes German Protestant theologian Kai M. Funkschmidt in a two-part article in the November and December issues of Materialdienst der EZW. Funkschmidt understands veganism as a kind…
HPI JAFFNA, SRI LANKA ,January 12, 2016 : Two white cobras have blessed the Mahalakshmi Kovil on Ekadasi day Wednesday 6th January 2016, in Clock Tower Road Junction at the corner of Mahatma Gandhi and Sir W Duraiswamy Roads. It is called the “Thanga Chakra Yoga Maha Lakshmi Kovil.” Around 1915, under a holy panneer tree was a sacred granite…
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 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 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)