Source: www.punjabkesari.com DEHRADUN, INDIA, July 21, 2010: Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), which overlooks the maintenance of the two temples, has scrapped the provisions of special VIP puja inside the centuries-old shrines, officials said Saturday. “Now VIPs would also have to stand in queues for having darshans of both Badrinath and Kedarnath temples,” Anusuiya Prasad Bhatt, chairman of the BKTC,…
Source: sify.com INDIA, July 17, 2010: A controversy has broken out in Kerala’s famed Sabarimala temple over a court suggestion to consider widening of the temple’s 18 holy steps as well as the door to the sanctum sanctorum to allow pilgrims easier access. The head priest of the temple and a vastu expert, among others, have opposed any attempt to…
Source: www.sundaytimes.lk SRI LANKA, July 2010: Western attire has been outlawed for this year’s Nallur Festival in the Jaffna Peninsula and pilgrims have been told that only the traditional sari or long skirt and full blouse for women and the verti for men will be allowed. Even the popular churidar (Salvars) worn by women have been banned. Jaffna Mayor and…
Source: www.derwesten.de GERMANY, June 14, 2010: The inaugural celebration for the renovation of the Hindu temple at the Robert-Koch-Strasse is in full swing. Anyone who accepted followed the friendly invitation removed their shoes and entered the long, single-story building to have a look at another world. A new statue of the Goddess Durga, the wife of Shiva, was set up…
Source: www.bbc.co.uk The amount of phytoplankton – tiny marine plants – in the top layers of the oceans has declined markedly over the last century, research suggests. Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say the decline appears to be linked to rising water temperatures. The final tally included 445,237 data points spanning the period 1899-2008. “This study took three years,…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com There is one thing God cannot do. He cannot separate Himself from the soul. Yogaswami of Jaffna (1872-1964)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com CHENNAI, INDIA, July 21, 2010: It was the collapse of the temple tower at Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh that spurred experts to inspect the rajagopurams characteristic of Chennai’s temples. What they discovered were not cracks or fissures but rare sculptures including one of the Maratha king Shivaji, which embellish the intricate carvings on these structures. “While climbing up…
Source: www.globalvisas.com UNITED STATES, July 21, 2010: It has emerged that professionals from India took a third of the available US work visas under the H-1B category last year. Among foreigners living in the US on a temporary basis, India made up the largest group, second only to Mexicans. Last year there were 364,757 non-immigrant Indians residing in the US…
Source: www.hafsite.org UNITED STATES, July 22, 2010: If you missed the winning essays of the Hindu American Foundation’s second annual NextGen Essay Contest, here is your chance to read what the next generation of Hindus is thinking. The question asked was, “How do you live your Hindu identity differently than your parents live theirs?” Contestants, in two categories based upon…
Source: in.news.yahoo.com INDIA, July 11, 2010: Security hassles at Kashi Vishwanath Temple have cut down the influx of daily devotees at the world famous temple by nearly 50 per cent, said Acharya Dr. Harihar Kripalu Tripathi, chief of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust. “The ever expanding security, which is inevitable owing to the sensitive nature of our complex, has reduced the…