Source INDIA, July 26, 2013 (Pune Mirror): Life as a student is bit off the beaten path for four-year-old Ovi Kale. Till she leaves her parents at the school gates, she speaks Marathi. But once in class, it’s Sanskrit — a language mostly associated with Hindu religious ceremonies, but rarely with preschool kids. Like Ovi, 700 other students at the…
Source MALAYSIA, 24 August 2013, (by Richard S. Ehrlich, RNS) The government of Malaysia expelled a group of Singaporean tourists for chanting Buddhist prayers inside an Islamic prayer room where they erected a large Buddhist painting on the wall facing Mecca. The government also revoked the permanent resident visa of the businessman who allowed the Buddhists to pray at his…
Source INDIA, August 20, 2013 (Deccan Chronicle): Raksha Bandhan, the festival of love between brothers and sisters, is being celebrated across the country today with full enthusiasm. The central ceremony involves the tying of a sacred thread, Rakhi, by a sister on her brother’s wrist. This symbolizes the sister’s love and prayers for her brother’s well being, and the brother’s…
Source Victory is not won by the lance, but by the king’s scepter, provided it is not crooked.— Tirukkural
Source VARANASI, INDIA, Aug 17, 2013, (by Meera Vohra, TNN): Music and language teachers from the city are holding e-classes for their students abroad. While e-classrooms are not a new concept, it’s only recently that international students who used to come to Varanasi to learn music and Indian languages have turned to city-based gurus to teach them online. Binit Kumar…
Source BANGALORE, INDIA August 23, 2013( The Hindu) An educated Shivalli Brahmin boy from Hornad married an orphan brought up in a government shelter without bothering about her lineage, horoscope, caste or gotra and without seeking the counsel of a priest. Is it an indication that a section of Brahmins of interior Malnad region appear to be shunning caste and…
Source Like the household fire, devotees seek the glory of the Lord even from afar and enshrine it in their inner chamber for enlightenment. The glory of our Lord is full of splendor, all-illuminative and worthy to be honored in every heart.— Rig Veda 7.1.2
Source COLLIERS WOOD, ENGLAND, August 19, 2013 (This is Local London): Hindu worshippers evicted from their temple last year have found a new home in Merton after an application for a new Hindu cultural center was approved by councillors. Bailiffs executed a dawn raid on the Sivayogam temple in Hebdon Road, Tooting on May 22, 2012, following a long running…
Source HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 19, 2013 (Post Noon): The 11-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival will be commencing on September 9 and massive arrangements at pandals are already in full swing. Although majority of Deities are made with plaster of paris (POP), with every passing year, more and more organizers are trying to ‘go green’ by installing eco-friendly Ganeshas. In a bid…
Source Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with wool to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.— Sri Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950), South Indian mystic