Source THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, October 24, 2012 (IANS): Thousands of tiny tots took the first step into the world of letters, through the ceremony called Vidyarambham (beginning of knowledge) when they wrote the first letters of the Malayalam alphabet on sand or rice with the help of academics, litterateurs, teachers and politicians Wednesday. Temples, institutions, clubs, media houses and even churches…
Source THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, October 24, 2012 (Press Trust of India): Congress Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) today termed as “unconstitutional” the Kerala government’s move to make it mandatory for Hindu members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) to declare that they “believe in God” in order to vote for nominees to temple boards. (The move would prevent the CPI-M MLAs from…
Press Trust of India DHAKA/KATHMANDU, October 24, 2012 (Press Trust of India): Thousands of Hindu devotees poured on to the streets of Bangladesh on Wednesday joining processions of Goddess Durga, to mark the culmination of four days of revelry and celebration on Vijay Dashmi. Wearing colorful attires, beating drums and chanting mantras, jubilant devotees celebrated with gusto before immersing statues…
Source To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of…
Source FLORIDA, U.S., October 15, 2012 (Huffington Post, by Vasudha Narayanan): Formal, printed invitations in previous years, and now e-vites start coming in September to announce the coming of the festival of Navratri (literally, “nine nights”). The invitations, issued by those whose original home is or was in parts of South India, are printed in women’s names, and announce gatherings…
Source CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, October 15, 2012 (sfgate.com): Organizers estimated more than 10,000 people attended the tenth annual Diwali celebration Saturday in Cupertino’s Memorial Park. Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most important Hindu celebrations in India and has become more popular in the United States in recent years. Visitors came from around the Bay Area to celebrate…
Source KOLKATA, INDIA, October 21, 2012 (Indian Express): Making a departure, prominent Durga Puja committees this year have modeled their pandals on the famous structures found across the country, compared to past years when aesthetically-designed mandaps were the rule. Singhi Park Sarbojanin Durga Puja, one of the biggest crowd-pullers, this time designed its pandal after the famous Meenakshi Amman Temple…
Source BENGAL, INDIA, October 18, 2012 (BBC): An excellent slideshow on Durga Puja in Bengal is available at source above.
Source SRINIGAR, INDIA, October 20, 2012: As part of continuous efforts to revive the centuries-old harmony and brotherhood in the Kashmir Valley, a Shiva temple at Rainawari in the city here was thrown open on Saturday to public after a gap of 22 years. The dilapidated temple was recently renovated by the Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust at a cost…
Source KOLKATA, INDIA, October 18, 2012 (firstpost.com): As the city remains busy doing last-minute shopping before the Durga Puja festivities kick off this weekend, a group of young men rehearses shlokas and rituals at a crash course to counter a priest shortage in Kolkata. Due to the mushrooming puja committees in the city and its outskirts, a shortage of skilled…