Nithyananda Sacked as Madurai Mutt Pontiff

Source MADURAI, INDIA, October 20, 2012 (Press Trust of India): Madurai, Oct 20 (PTI): Swami Nithyananda was on Friday sacked by the senior pontiff as his successor of a 1,500-year old Saivite mutt here, an appointment which had attracted widespread condemnation from various quarters including Tamil Nadu Government as Nithyananda is facing criminal charges in Karnataka. Sri Arunagirinathar, the 292nd…

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|Saiva Agamas Honored Upon Arrival in Toronto

Saiva Agamas Honored Upon Arrival in Toronto Press Release TORONTO, CANADA, October, 2012 (Thiru Satkunendran): A computer disk drive containing the large collection of Saiva Agamas from the archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry Institute arrived today in Toronto. It is a gift from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of Hinduism Today. This gem, containing over a million photos, including…

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Devotees Visit Himachal Temples For Navaratri Festival

Source SHIMLA, INDIA, October 16,2012 (Indo-Asian News Service): Tens of thousands of devotees assembled in different parts of Himachal Pradesh Tuesday and offered prayers on the onset of the nine-day Navratra, considered by Hindus to be an auspicious period. “We are expecting the arrival of 50,000 people daily at the Naina Devi temple during the festival,” temple office Sukhdev Thakur…

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Devotees Throng Penang Temples

Source GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA, October 16, 2012 (The Star): Thousands of devotees, carrying candles and incense, thronged the Nine Emperor Gods (Kew Ong Yeah) temples in Penang to seek blessings and in typical multi-religious style, Hindu devotees marked their ‚ÄúNavarathri‚Äù (nine nights) vegetarian festival. Over in Burma Road leading to Tao Bo Kong Temple, there was a bumper-to-bumper crawl stretching…

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Hindus Light Earthen Lamps As Part Of Annual Ancestor Worship Ritual

Source GAYA, BIHAR, INDIA, October 14, 2012 (ANI): Hindu devotees lit earthen lamps over the weekend as an obligatory duty ahead of the annual ancestor worshipping ritual of Pind Daan, which falls during the Pitr-Paksha period (16-lunar day period as per Hindu calendar). Pitr-paksha generally falls in the month of September or October every year. Devotees were seen lighting earthen…

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California’s Bhutanese Refugees Celebrate Fall Festival As They Assess Ongoing Challenges

Source OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, October 13, 2012 (Contra Costa Times): Five years after a few pioneering families began trickling into East Oakland and Alameda, a burgeoning Bhutanese exile community is happy to have left refugee camps in Nepal but still struggling to adjust to Bay Area life, according to the first report to survey their well-being. “The community is still trying…

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Daily Inspiration

Source The more we are conscious of God’s presence in daily life, the more intense is the fullness of the joy we experience. God means infinitely more to our existence than the light of the sun means to the plants and trees.— Swami Omkarananda, (1930-2000), founder of Omkarananda Ashram, Rishikesh

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Srirangam Temple Among Five Tamil Nadu Sites In Unesco Tentative List

Source KUMBAKONAM, INDIA, October 15, 2012 (India Times): The Union minister for culture, Kumari Selja on Sunday visited famous temples around Kumbakonam and said that the culture ministry has included five sites in Tamil Nadu, including the famous Lord Sri Ranganathar temple in Srirangam, in the tentative list for UNESCO world heritage status. She was on a heritage tour to…

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