Source BANGKOK, THAILAND, July 20, 2012 (UPI): Thailand and Cambodia have pulled back their troops from the disputed border area around Preah Vihear, a ninth-century Hindu temple. Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been at a standoff around the 900-year-old temple in the Dangrek Mountains on the Thai-Cambodia border for several years and several military confrontations. The International Court of Justice…
Source A Hindu devotee asked God, in the form of the multi-armed Lord Narayana, this question: “My dear Lord, I understand that you have innumerable inconceivable potencies. But out of all of them the energy of light seems to be the most amazing. Light pervades the spiritual world, it illuminates the material universes, and life is impossible without it.” He…
Source SYDNEY, AUSTRAILA, July 20,2012 (economictimes.com): India has topped Britain and China to become Australia’s leading source of migrants for the first time, data revealed on Friday, with seven of the top 10 source countries now in Asia. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said India accounted for 29,000 of the 185,000 places in Australia’s 2011-12 permanent migration programme — some 15.7…
Source BANGALORE, NDIA, July 20, 2012 (India Today): The Karnataka government has decided to spend US$3 million to ensure that the state does not face a drought this year. However, the money is not being spent on drought-proofing measures, rather the government is handing out this amount for “special prayers and yagnas” to invoke the rain Gods. According to the…
Source Srinagar, July 19, 2012( Mail Today): As the death toll of Amarnath pilgrims mounted to 92 on Thursday, the 25th day of Amarnath yatra, the state health ministry voiced concern that the pilgrims don’t even take basic health precautions and put their lives to risk. Dr. Anita Murthy, who volunteered to serve Amarnath yatris at the Baltal base camp,…
Source You are God. I am God. Only one. You cannot separate me from you.— Satguru Siva Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lanka’s most revered contemporary mystic
Source BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, July 18, 2012 (IANS): Odisha-based sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik’s sculpture of the Hindu God Ganesha has won two gold medals at the just-concluded Solo International Sand Art Contest in Marbella, Spain, the artist said Wednesday. Pattnaik’s 3.5-metre sand sculpture bearing message – “Save The Sea Life” – won in People’s Choice and Best Positive sculpture categories. (A…
Source SAKHA, July 18, 2012 (indrus.in): Thousands of miles away from the backwaters of Kerala, Kuttiyattam performers from the southern Indian state staged performances of the Sanskrit theatre in the Russian Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The theatre-group was in the Russian internal republic for the ‘Masterpieces of UNESCO in Olonkho Land Festival’ that was held on July 10-16. The festival…
Source Srinagar, Jul 19, 2012 (PTI) Chhari Mubarak, the saffron-robed holy mace of Lord Shiva, was taken to the historic Shankaracharya temple here for prayers as part of the ongoing Amarnath yatra. Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of the mace, carried the Chhari Mubarak from its abode Dashnami Akhara at Badshah Chowk to Shankaracharya temple this morning, officials said. Chhari…
Religion News Service UNITED STATES, July 2012 (RNS): The most comprehensive study of religion and Asian-Americans to date finds them less religious than most Americans, but also far more religiously diverse. Within that diversity, however, researchers discovered a wealth of spirituality “Asian-Americans are really a study in contrasts, with religious groups that are running the gamut from highly religious to…