Source BHOPAL, INDIA, April 20, 2012 (Indian Express): The Madhya Pradesh BJP government on Thursday announced that it would pay for the pilgrimage of at least one hundred thousand senior citizens every year (for several religions). Under the scheme, called Mukhyamantri Teertha-Darshan Yojana, the senior citizens will be allowed to take attendants, whose expenses will be covered as well. Madhya…
Source PATNA, INDIA, April 15, 2012 (Deccan Herald): The much-revered Mahavir Mandir in Patna added another feather to its cap when it became the second highest earner among all the temples in North India. The Vaishno Devi temple is at the top. According to Mahavir Mandir Trust, which runs the temple, the Mandir earned more than US$1.15 million in the…
Source Rely on the teachings to evaluate a guru: Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism.— His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual-political leader in exile
Source UK, April 16, 2012 (by Mark Bittman): Colin Spencer, whom Germaine Greer once called “the greatest living food writer,” turns 80 next year, and shows no signs of slowing down. “What I tried to do right from the beginning,” he told me, “was to make my food column political.” With that, he meant taking a stance not on matters…
Source INDIA, April 15, 2012 (The Hindu): The annual Hindu festival of luck, Vishu, was celebrated with traditional fervor and ritualistic splendor at Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Saturday. Hundreds of devotees from different parts of the State as well as from the neighbouring States of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, thronged the holy hillock to have the auspicious ‘Vishukkani’ darshan at…
Source RANCHI, INDIA, April 5, 2012 (India Times): An ancient Shiva temple, better known as Pahari Mandir because of its location atop a hill in the capital, will be the first temple here to seek online donations. The new system will be operational from the end of this month and devotees can offer prayers, prasad and donations to Pahari Baba…
Source Oh, if you only knew yourselves! You are souls; you are Gods. If ever I feel like blaspheming, it is when I call you man.— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Source UNITED STATES, April 8, 2012 (Scientific American): New research indicates that people have developed a mental tool to help us cope with the realities of our carnivorous nature: denial. In a study that excluded vegetarians, psychologist Brock Bastian of the University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues first asked participants to commit to eating either meat slices or…
MONTREAL, CANADA, April 16, 2012 (press release): The eighth annual Sanskrit conference will meet on Friday, the 18th of May, 2012, in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. The aim of this conference is to promote daily as well as scholarly use of Sanskrit. Participants are therefore invited to make a presentation in Sanskrit on any…
Source ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, March 28, 2012 (Asia News): “In Pakistan there is justice only for Muslims, justice is denied Hindus. Kill me here, now, in court. But do not send me back to the Darul-Aman [Koranic school] … kill me”. This is the desperate, heartbreaking outburst of Rinkel Kumari, a Hindu girl aged 19, who has entrusted her heartfelt appeal…