Source: www.shastras.org MINNESOTA, USA, January 17, 2010: (HPI Note: Dr. Rambachan is Professor and Chair, Religion Department, St. Olaf College.) Although the exclusion of Dalits from places of Hindu worship ought to be a matter of deep concern and distress, there is hardly a ripple of protest in the sea of Hindu complacency. Shutting the doors of Hindu temples to…
Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com USA, January 6, 2010: (By Aseem Shukla) A person could be fined up to $35,000 if “he publishes or utters matter that is insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion.” That absurd anti-blasphemy law, proposed in Ireland, provides a timely occasion to explore the Abrahamic concept of blasphemy.Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century considered blasphemy…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com When individuals change for the better, then society will change, and when society changes, then the country will change. Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
Source: www.nytimes.com NEW YORK, USA, January 10, 2010: Rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors, Sri Lanka, for a quarter century, seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. Hopefully, last May, the conflict finally ended, ushering in a more peaceful era for this magnificent island. With a population…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without. American philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Source: www.ddinews.gov.in HARIDWAR, INDIA, January 12, 2010: Thousands of devotees arrived in Haridwar to celebrate the first Kumbh Mela of the century this Thursday. On this day, over 25,000 are expected to take a dip in the river Ganga on the auspicious occasion of ‘Makar Sankranti’- the day marking the decline of winter. Eighty thousand people have already reached the…
Source: beta.thehindu.com SABARIMALA (PATHANAMTHITTA), INDIA, January 14, 2010: Millions of devotees waiting anxiously for hours to witness the celestial light, shouted in joy and thanksgiving when the Makara Jyothi appeared thrice on the horizon at the Sabarimala temple here Thursday evening. The celestial light was seen after 6:40 p.m. Sighting of the celestial light on the horizon is considered most…
Source: sify.com UTTARAKHAND, INDIA, January 14, 2010: The hill state of Uttarakhand is promoting the temple towns of Hardwar and Rishikesh as the biggest urban spiritual tourism destinations in the world on the strength of the Kumbh Mela. The government has sanctioned infrastructure and town planning projects worth US$120 million for the mela, which begins Jan 14. “We are making…
Source:¬†http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=327&page=27 INDIA, January 12, 2010: Every year, India celebrates Swami Vivekananda’s birthday, January 12, 1863, as Youth Day. Swami Vivekananda exhorted the people of Bharat to “be proud to call yourself a Hindu. Have muscles of iron and a heart of steel. Serve the poor, needy and ignorant like your brothers and sisters”. When asked by youth for knowledge from…
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com TRINIDAD-TOBAGO, January 12, 2020: The Hindu Festivals Society will host its second annual Makar Sankranti (also called Pongal) celebrations on Thursday. All are invited to join the HFS in its ‘Rudra Gita Gyan Yagna’ as members celebrate India’s biggest and most popular festival, Makar Sankranti. Rituals take place at the HFS Water Festivals Centre, Persad Drive, Los Iros…