Source DEHRADUN, INDIA, November 5, 2013 (Zee News): Amid chants of Vedic hymns and light snowfall, the portals of Kedarnath and Yamunotri, the two major chardham pilgrimage centres in Garhwal Himalayas, were closed to visitors on Tuesday for winter during which they become snowbound and inaccessible. While the portals of Kedarnath, which bore the brunt of the June calamity in…
Source Just as a big banyan tree sprouts from a tiny seed, so the wide universe with names and forms sprouts forth from the heart.— Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), South Indian mystic
Source FLUSHING, NEW YORK, October 21, 2013 (EcoWatch): A public school in Flushing, NY that was the first in the nation to offer a 100 percent vegetarian lunch menu reported recently that students have improved attendance, test scores and energy in the wake of the change. Students are still allowed to brown-bag, but the overwhelming majority–about 90 percent–of students are…
Source BANGLADESH, November 5, 2013 (Dhaka Tribune): Members of Hindu community in Lalmonirhat on Monday came under targeted attack again, for the third time in a week of escalating sectarian tension and violence in the region. At least 15 Hindus – including nine male and six female – were injured, 40 houses raided, four of them damaged, and valuables worth…
Source PABNA, BANGLADESH, November 2, 2013 (The Daily Star): An angry mob vandalized at least 26 houses and a temple of the Hindu community in Pabna’s Ataikula upazila today following a rumor that a Hindu boy posted something on Facebook demeaning Prophet Mohammad. It took around six hours for the law enforcers to bring the situation under control after the…
Source The atman in you is that which indwells all things.” “Tell me, Yajnavalkya, about this atman that indwells all things.” “It is that which transcends hunger and thirst, sorrow and delusion, old age and death.”— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III, 5A
Religion News Service LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, November 1, 2013 (RNS): Parents who say yoga is inherently religious have appealed a judge’s ruling that allowed yoga in a public school system near San Diego, saying it violates the constitutional separation of church and state. “Our children are not religious guinea pigs and should never be subjected to such misguided religious experimentation,”…
Source NAIROBI, KENYA, October 29, 2013 (Quartz): Terrorism fears here, a little more than a month after the Westgate mall attacks, have prompted a ban on fireworks during the Indian holiday, often celebrated with the eating of sweets, the exchange of gifts, the lighting of candles, and lots of fireworks. Government officials say they fear that criminals and terrorists could…
Source Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.— Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Bengali poet and Brahmo Samaj philosopher
Source MOSCOW, RUSSIA, January 4, 2007 (Times Of India–Please note this article is six years old): An ancient Vishnu statue has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The statue found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to the VII-X century AD.…