Source DHAKA, BANGALADESH, January 28, 2012, (bdnews24.com): Heralding the season of Spring, Saraswati Puja is being celebrated across the country, with Dhaka University’s Fine Arts faculty students claiming their 35-foot idol is the biggest in the world. A Hindu festival meant to seek the blessings of Saraswati, students and educationists cutting across religious divide join in the festivities to honor…
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, January 27, 2012 (Deccan Chronicle): The Agastiyar temple at T. Nagar (central Chennai) that has been managed more as an ashram and a defunct Naadi Jothida Nilayam for about six decades was taken over by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) department on Wednesday evening citing “gross mismanagement” and “violations.” The temple had its…
Source SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 26, 2012 (Mercury News): In a quintessentially Californian move that could provoke a groan from some in the red states — officials inaugurated a public yoga studio Thursday for passengers at San Francisco International Airport, possibly the world’s first inside an airport. After the official opening for the 150-square foot former storage closet Airport Director…
Source One must be patient like the Earth. What iniquities are being perpetuated on her! Yet she quietly endures them all.— Mother Sarada Devi (1853-1920)
Source Because you think I am capable of loving or despising you, you cannot know who I am.— Satguru Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lanka’s most revered contemporary mystic
Source UNITED STATES, January 18, 2012: Julie Sahni vividly remembers the first time she had to eat with utensils. Ms. Sahni, a New York-based cookbook author and cooking teacher, grew up in India eating the traditional way, with her right hand. Then, in college, she won a dance competition that would take her to Europe. How, she wondered, would she…
Source CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA, January 26, 2012 (Economic Times): The prestigious University of Chicago will establish a new visiting professorship in Indian studies to commemorate the legacy of spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda, supported by a US$1.5 million gift from India. The new chair will enrich the University’s renowned programme for the study of the Indian subcontinent and further research and…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 25, 2012 (Indian Express): Seven new tourist circuits will be developed across the country to facilitate travel to and stay at religious places. Work has already begun to prepare detailed project reports for Sufi, Buddhist & Jain, Christian, Sikh, Hinduism and Sarva Dharma [all religions] circuits. The Sufi circuit will include Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri,…
Source BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, January 24, 2012 (Times of India): A 35-year-old Russian tourist here on Tuesday created quite a flutter after entering the 11th century Lingaraj temple that is off limits to non-Hindus. The tourist, who claimed to have converted to Hinduism in the past, identified himself as Sundar Gopal Das. Police are verifying the Russian’s passport to ascertain…
Source VIETNAM: A flood of Vietnamese are flooding a Hindu temple in Ho Chi Minh City during the 7-day Tet festival that began last Friday, according to Indian residents of the city and local Vietnamese. More than 50,000 people, almost all Buddhists, prayed at the Mariammam Temple through the day and the entire night during the Vietnamese New Year on…