Press Release ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 13,2013 (Press Release): The Kumbh Mela administration said today that a foolproof comprehensive planning is in place for the fifth bathing festival of Maha Kumbh of Basant Panchmi. Allahabad Divisional Commissioner Devesh Chaturvedi today held a marathon meeting with all stake holders including railways, UP State Road Transport Corporation, Allahabad district administration, police and security…
Source I have nothing new to teach the world, Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Source NEW YORK, February 5, 2013 (NY Daily News): With German sausages, French duck and homegrown chicken, Francis Menezes is cashing in on the growing appetite for meat among Indians — even in one of Mumbai’s most strictly vegetarian areas. But Menezes, co-manager of the Cafe Ridge food store, says he does a brisk trade in “non-veg”, especially with those…
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 10, 2013 (India Times): In a separate incident from the railway station disaster, two pilgrims were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbha Mela here on Sunday as over thirty million people converged for a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, considered the most auspicious day during the 12-yearly congregation. The stampede broke…
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 9, 2013 (Express India): Allahabad Sadhvis at Kumbh 2013 are gradually and surely going up the hierarchy in a predominantly male-dominated system. Sai Maa Laxmi Devi, who was born in Mauritius and is a French citizen, was the first woman from outside India to be given the title “Jagat Guru” of the Vaishnavite Nirmohi akhara in…
Source There is no true path that leads away from religion.— Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 8, 2013 (NY Times): The South Asia Institute at Harvard has sent a team of public health specialists to one of the largest gatherings in the world, the Kumbh Mela in India, with a goal of assembling the largest public health data set ever among a transient population. The pilgrims are there to bathe. The epidemiologists…
Source ALLAHABAD, India, February 12, 2013 (Times of India): HPI note: There are dozens of stories on the tragic events at the Kumbha Mela yesterday. This Times of India story is as complete as any. Hinduism Today reporter Rajiv Malik tells us by phone that the disaster has cast a gloom over all the pilgrims still at the Mela. The…
Source No fault befalls a king who, in guarding and caring for his subjects, punishes wrongdoers–for that is his duty.— Tirukkural
Source PRAYAG, INDIA, February 8, 2013 (Deccan Chronicle): On the banks of Ganga and Yamuna, history was written silently and unobtrusively on Thursday when around 100 scavengers performed puja and took a holy dip at Sangam. Scavengers, termed untouchables, were brought from Alwar and Tonk districts of Rajasthan by social reformer Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, who heads the Sulabh International. For…