Source MEDAN, INDONESIA, April 22, 2015 (MedanBisnis): The mayor of Medan, Dzulmi Eldin, has granted a “facultative holiday” for Hindus in the city of Medan to celebrate Diwali. This was done so that Hindus can be more calm and solemn during the ritual of celebrating the festival of the victory of good against falsehood. This optional holiday will be implemented…
Source WASHINGTON, D.C., April 16, 2015 (Indian Panorama): George Washington University is gearing up to permanently ban from campus an important religious symbol, one which is sacred to many Hindus and Buddhists in India and elsewhere, because it looks like something else which may upset the sensibilities of some students. The University has seemingly taken the position that posting anything…
Source The learned have prescribed penance for the murderer of a pious man, a drunkard, a thief or for one who has violated a solemn vow. But there is no pardon for the ungrateful.— The Panchatantra
Source HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 26, 2015 (Sewa USA): Sewa has released $10,000 towards immediate relief in Nepal. Sewa International’s sister organization in Nepal and several hundreds of its volunteers have already started helping the unfortunate victims within hours of this massive earthquake. Help is being rendered in rescue operations, providing first aid and distributing safe drinking water bottles, food packets,…
Source UNITED STATES, April 27, 2015 (VHP America Press Release): A massive earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Nepal. The earthquake centered outside Kathmandu, the capital, was the worst to hit the South Asian nation in over 80 years. VHP of America requests your kind contribution to help the victims and their family who are affected by this…
Source KATHMANDU, NEPAL, April 28, 2015 (Press Trust of India): The famous 5th-century Pashupatinath Temple here has survived the massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake that flattened several World Heritages like iconic Dharhara tower and Darbar Square in Nepal. “The Pashupatinath Temple is safe, we have checked the shrine many times and it has developed no cracks,” a devotee at the temple…
Source KATHMANDU, NEPAL, April 28, 2015 (by Free Press Journal): Many Hindu temples including, the iconic Kasthamandap have been destroyed or badly damaged in Nepal’s worst temblor in over 80 years in the Kathmandu Valley and many adjoining areas. Several temples, including Panchtale temple, the nine-storey Basantapur Durbar, the Dasa Avtar temple, Krishna Mandir, were demolished by the quake. Kasthamandap,…
Source He cannot be seen by the eye, and words cannot reveal Him. He cannot be reached by the senses, or by austerity or sacred actions. By the grace of wisdom and purity of mind, He can be seen, indivisible, in the silence of contemplation. This invisible Atman can be seen by the mind wherein the five senses are resting.—…
Source INDIA, April 24, 2015 (The Hindu): Glass fiber (“fiberglass” in the West) has become the new cost effective and light weight medium for sculptures of new temples being constructed. Earlier temples were constructed with stones on which sculptures and carvings were made. With time, temples became concrete structures where stone sculptures or statues of concrete were used for outer…
Source BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, March 26, 2015 (First Post): The death of Sashimani Devi, the last in a long line of devadasis at the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, marks the end of an era. Since Sashimani chose not to groom anybody as a future devadasi in her lifetime, as required under the temple rules, an 800-year-old tradition has now well…