Source CALIFORNIA, U.S., July 7, 2012 (neontommy.com): Planning a wedding is never easy. But with 500 guests, two conflicting cultures and an elephant to handle, things can get complicated pretty quickly. In India, lavish wedding celebrations go on for weeks and guest lists top 1,000 — but the country is full of vendors and planners who know the ropes. In…
Source INDIA, July 11, 2012 (eurasiareview.com): The annual pilgrimage to Amarnath, one of the holiest shrines of Hindus nestled in the Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 12,750 ft. above sea level and dedicated to Lord Shiva, has been caught in confusion again, mainly due to overcrowding and mismanagement. The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) is responsible for organizing the…
Source “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.”— Swami Chinmayananda (1917-1993), Vedantist writer, lecturer and Hindu renaissance founder of Chinmaya Mission International
Source HOUSTON, TEXAS, July 9, 2012 (artha R. Sarathy): There is a growing circle of Houstonian Sanskrit-lovers who are determined to play a decisive role in bolstering the prodigious efforts of a Sanskrit Institute in faraway Chennai. Their passion and commitment were palpable at a recent presentation in Sugarland by Dr. Sita Sundar Ram of Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute (KSRI),…
Source AHMEDABAD, INDIA, July 2, 2012 (indiatimes.com): When Sunita Williams is thousands of miles above the Earth taking a bird’s eye view of the universe from her space shuttle window, she will try to understand universal truths of the Upanishads. The Indian American astronaut — who will spend six months in space from July 14 — is carrying with her…
Source SRINAGAR, INDIA, July 9, 2012 (business-standard.com): Concerned over the deaths of pilgrims of all ages during the ongoing Amarnath yatra, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra today directed the authorities to take urgent steps to address significant health-related issues pertaining to the pilgrimage. Vohra, also chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, chaired a high-level meeting here in this…
Source SHIMLA, INDIA, July 8, 2012 (nydailynews.com): Himachal Pradesh is set to allow gold-rich temple trusts to melt tons of the precious metal in their coffers to turn them into mementos as is done at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Kashmir. The government is shortly going to sign an agreement with the public sector Mines and Minerals Trading Corp (MMTC),…
Source You don’t want to see God. You must feel God. God is you. Just be that.— Satguru Siva Yogaswami (1872-1964) of Sri Lanka
Source CHANDIGARH, INDIA, July 2012 (pardaphash.com): The traditional festival of Guru Purnima, which falls on the day of full moon Purnima, usually in July, was celebrated across the city on Tuesday with full enthusiasm. All the spiritual aspirants and devotees offered prayers for the well being of their gurus and teachers. As per the reports, on this day, Gayatri Parivar…
Source SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, June 27, 2012 (Times Union): Upward of 8,000 people of Guyanese descent live in and around Schenectady in an immigrant community that has been lauded by city officials for its resourceful willingness to buy and rehab homes in blighted inner-city neighborhoods. But recent cases of self-inflicted violence have raised concerns about their likely connection to a…