Source ALLAHABAD, INDIA, June 10, 2012 (India Times): To offer adequate facilities to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and devotees during Mahakumbh, the flood control unit of the irrigation department has started construction of permanent ghats (steps) on the banks of the Ganga and the Yamuna. Officials added that five permanent ghats — Kila, Boat Club, Arail, Balua and Bargad…
Source BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 11, 2012 (twocircles.net): Preparations for the annual Rath Yatra of Odisha’s Jagannath temple in Puri have gained momentum with carpenters working overtime on the three gigantic wooden chariots that will carry deities in a ceremonial procession, marking commencement of the nine-day festival June 21. The icons of three Hindu Deities – Jagannath, brother Balabhadra and sister…
Source Every step I take in light is mine forever.— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), modern Hindu renaissance master
Source INDIA, June 5, 2012 (The Hindu): The clunk of chisel on stone fills the air. Instructions fly around. Priests, courtiers, masons and architects confer. The Natya Karanas (dance movements) are being carved into the wall of the corridor around the garbhagruha. Landmark judgements, donations and minutiae of day-to-day administration are inscribed on the outer rock walls. On the inside,…
Source EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, June 8, 2012 (scotsman.com): With just a handful of volunteers gathered underneath Meadowbank Stadium’s wet weather stand, the setting of the first Edinburgh Mela in 1995 could hardly have been more modest. A self-funded, grassroots event, intended to celebrate the Capital’s Asian communities, it was considered a success after attracting a few hundred visitors. The Mela would…
Source The sages, being filled with universal love for all beings, did not want to keep their enlightenment to themselves. They declared to all: “O mortals, striving and struggling upon this Earth plane, weeping, wailing, buffeted by the vicissitudes of life: we have come upon a great discovery. There is something beyond these appearances, these vanishing names and forms that…
Source BALI, INDONESIA, June 2, 2012 (Jakarta Post): Since early Friday morning, many farmers at Jatiluwih village, Tabanan, about 12.5 miles from Denpasar, began marching to their rice fields bringing offerings, as part of the pre-harvest thanksgiving ceremony, locally known as Mesaba. The main rituals are held in the afternoon at the subak temple in Bedugul. All of the subak…
Source AMRITSAR, JUNE 5, 2012 (India Times): The Pakistan government was only keen on developing a cluster of Katasraj temples situated in Chakwal district of Pakistan as a heritage site and not as a prominent Hindu religious site, said researcher and historian Surinder Kochhar while talking to TOI on Tuesday. He said though the Pakistan government had undertaken restoration work…
Source SOUTH AFRICA, June 8, 2012 (The Times): KwaZulu-Natal police are awaiting feedback from the national office whether religious wristbands will be allowed in their dress code. This follows complaints from 24 police officers who were told by Pinetown station commander Brigadier Owen Zama to remove red strings, a Hindu symbol of protection usually given at Raksha Bandhan festival by…
Source KAPAA, HAWAII, June 9, 2012 (Hinduism Today): The July/August/September 2012 edition of our flagship magazine is available in print, on-line and in downloadable PDF format. This issue travels the worlds: the outside and inside worlds, that is. On the Outside:Travel with us to an amazing mela just outside of Mysore, India. We did! The Hinduism Today editor attended the…