HOUSTON, TEXAS, November 24, 2023 (Religion News): After nearly four decades, a summer camp for Hindu children and teens has a permanent home. On Saturday (Nov. 18), the Hindu Heritage Youth Camp, the predominant Hindu summer program based in Houston, officially began construction of the Texas Hindu Campsite on a 52-acre plot of land. While construction was delayed by the…
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 24, 2023 (connexionblog.com): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said today that India will show the path of happiness and satisfaction to the world which is tottering after experiments with materialism, communism and capitalism. Addressing the inaugural session of the Third World Hindu Congress (WHC) in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, Bhagwat appealed to Hindus around…
SOUTHEAST ASIA, November 20, 2023 (Pew Research, by Manolo Corichi): The populations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand each have large religious majorities, with at least seven-in-ten adults being Buddhist or Muslim. In some of these countries, there have been significant tensions with minority religious groups in recent years. Yet a 2022 Pew Research Center survey finds that,…
KAPAA, Hawaii November 21, 2023 (Associated Press, by Deepa Bharath): It is the only all-granite, hand-carved Hindu temple in the West built without power tools or electricity, and it’s nestled on one of the smaller islands in Hawaii surrounded by lush gardens and forests. On the island of Kauai, the presence of the Iraivan Temple — a white granite edifice…
INDIA, November 18, 2023 (The Organiser): Badrinath Temple in the Himalayas was decorated with 3,300 pounds of marigold flowers in the early hours of November 18. The portals of one of the country’s holiest shrines will be closed for winter today. Devotees who reached the Badrinath Dham for worship on the 18th applauded the decoration and were seen clicking pictures…
TAMIL NADU, INDIA, November 18, 2023 (Organiser): Tamil Nadu’s state government informed the Madras High Court that they would live stream the opening of donation boxes at 48 temples. The State government announced its decision in wake of the public interest litigation pleas filed by Rangarajan Narasimhan, who brought attention to the theft of cash and gold ornaments from temple…
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, November 18, 2013 (Kathmandu Post): The Chhath festival is observed with great care and purity. Chhath celebrations revolve around offering homage to the Sun. The festival spans four days, starting from the fourth day of the waxing moon to the seventh day in the month of Kartik, as per the lunar calendar. Throughout this festival, all activities are…
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, November 16, 2023 (Religion News): An ancient ritual as old as Hinduism itself has traveled through time and space all the way to the waters of California’s Bay Area. Starting at sundown on Friday (Nov. 17), hundreds of Hindus will wade into the waters of Quarry Lakes, a man-made lake in Fremont, California, to express reverence to nature,…
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 16, 2023 (Religion News): The human rights group Amnesty International has strongly criticized UNESCO and its World Heritage program for failing to challenge the Cambodian government’s ongoing mass evictions at the famous centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex. The London-based organization in a report released Tuesday charged that the evictions of an estimated 10,000 families by Cambodian authorities…
MUMBAI, INDIA, November 14, 2023 (RNS): In a leafy neighborhood of central Mumbai, classic Parsi-style bungalows with their deep porches and balconies adorn the streets, a historic Parsi school has been recently renovated and at the Dadar Athornan Institute, 14 students dressed in T-shirts and skullcaps are immersed in learning the sacred scriptures and rituals of the Zoroastrian faith. But…
