Source PALESTINE, August 27, 2015 (The Guardian): A lack of yoga teachers, and a social stigma from the belief that the practice had something to do with a foreign religion, meant that until recently not many Palestinians had had exposure to yoga or meditation. But in 2010 Farashe opened a volunteer-based nonprofit community yoga centre in Ramallah that focuses on…
Source UNITED STATES, August 28, 2015 (Trak.in): The Google Cultural Institute is increasingly helping the Indian culture flourish on a global platform, bringing the best of Indian art and culture online. Google announced that it has added ten new partner institutions to digitize and share their content via its platform. The U.S.-based tech giant is surely doing much to promote…
Source MADABA, JORDAN, August 22, 2015 (US News): The “new mantra” of the U.N. Population Fund is to keep girls in school until age 18 “in every nook and cranny of the world” to protect their rights and slow population growth, the head of the agency said. Last month, the U.N. said it expects the world’s population to reach 8.5…
Source NASHIK, INDIA, August 26, 2015 (Indian Express): Today marked the first day of bathing for those attending this year’s Kumbh Mela festival on the banks of the Godavari River in Maharashtra state. For colorful photos see source above.
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, August 28, 2015 (HPI): The Hinduism Today app, rolled out August 12 for the iPhone, is now available for all Android smart phones. You can get it on Google Play: Click here and install! Apple iOS users: go here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hinduism-today/id1023295974?mt=8Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.HinduismToday.android For many months now the monks have been working among themselves and with experts to…
Source WASHINGTON D.C., August 24, 2015 (Hindu American Foundation): Teachers from around the Washington, DC region took part in the three-day Teach India! teacher training workshop organized by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), California State University-Long Beach, and the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple (SSVT), the first ever program featuring a partnership of this kind. The workshop was held from Aug.…
Source UNITED STATES, August 26, 2015 (Vedanet by Vamadeva Shastri): Western academia has had an almost uncritical control of Hindu studies, unlike that of any other religion. There are few practicing Hindus in academic positions in the West, and those that exist rarely challenge the dominant discourse openly in front of their peers. Indians seem to be encouraged if they…
Source JAIPUR, INDIA, August 25, 2015 (Nation): Thousands of members of the austere Jain religion protested across India on Monday for the legal right to take part in an ancient ritual of starving themselves to death. Dressed in traditional white kurtas and trousers and holding banners that read “Suicide is crime, Santhara is religion”, they marched silently through the city…
Source HYDERABAD, INDIA, august 22, 2015 (The Hindu): Environmental concerns is an issue that crops up each year in the runup to Vinayak Chaturthi in the city. And like in previous years, immersion of statues in Hussainsagar Lake scheduled in the last week of September grabbed the spotlight this time too. Built in 1562, the lake dividing the twin cities…
Source INDIA, August 21, 2015 (Storypick): People consider India to be incompetent when it comes to organising things, but this news might change that perspective to some extent. A book produced by scholars and students of Harvard University along with architects and town planners of international repute, declared that Maha Kumbh 2013 at Prayag to be better organized than FIFA…