Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 24, 2013 (BBC): What is a farm owner from Australia doing with a boat at the Kumbh Mela festival in India? Andrew Turner has built the boat and is ferrying pilgrims for free at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, where the festival is held. Millions of people bathe at Sangam in what…
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 25, 2013 (Indian Express): Unmindful of tight security arrangements, elaborate traffic diversions and consequent jam-like situation, devotees in large numbers have begun reaching Sangam for the Maghi Purnima snan (bathing), virtually the last main snan day of Kumbh, Monday. The mela authorities are expecting around ten million to take the holy dip. Maghi Purnima snan marks…
Source God is within you. He has no eyes, no ears, but we place Him outside and worship. God has become father, mother and guru. God has become this mango tree also. God has become you and He has become I.— Satguru Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lanka’s most revered contemporary mystic
Source ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA, February 20, 2013 (utsandiego.com): The National Center for Law & Policy, a nonprofit law firm, announced Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against the Encinitas Union School District over a district yoga program that the plaintiffs argue is a form of religious indoctrination. Dean Broyles, the attorney who runs the center, said the lawsuit doesn’t seek…
Source WEST BENGAL, INDIA, February 21, 2013 (niticentral.com): Amidst a near-complete media blackout and distressing silence from statutory bodies like the National Human Rights Commission, a serious communal flare up has taken place in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, with more than 200 Hindu homes torched and looted in four villages — Naliakhali, Herobhanga, Gopalpur and Goladogra, in…
Source There was once a time when all human beings were Gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found. Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the Gods to help him decide. “Let’s bury it deep…
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 21, 2013: Pilgrims at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela faced a tough time on Wednesday due to the nationwide strike called by central trade unions which has brought movement of Uttar Pradesh roadways buses to a standstill. Despite charging exorbitant rates, private buses were seen overcrowded with pilgrims while taxis ferried stranded passengers. There were also…
Source To have an altar at home alters our life.— Swami Tejomayananda, spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission
LUCKNOW, INDIA, February 17, 2013 (India Today): Despite a flood-like situation and nearly half submerged tents in Maha Kumbh, a large number of kalpvasis have refused to shift from there to over 26 schools vacated for them in Allahabad city. The rain on Saturday night played havoc, leaving over 100,000 resident pilgrims high and dry as at least 20,000 tents…
Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, February 20, 2013 (Times of India): Following the third and the last Shahi Snaan on Basant Panchami, saints and seers along with thousands of Naga Sadhus camping in various akharas have started to bid adieu to the second Kumbh of the century, Maha Kumbh 2013. While the Nagas of Shaiv Akharas, which have been center of attraction…