INDIA, August 19, 2022 (IV News): During his visit to Thailand for the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar went to the Devasthanam in Bangkok. This Devasthanam is the royal Brahmin office of the Royal Court of Thailand and the official center of Hinduism in Thailand. He offered morning prayer at Bangkok Devasthanam today. “It underlines…
UNITED STATES, August 17, 2022 (Religion News Service): Over the course of two centuries, ayurveda — the ancient philosophy of the Indian subcontinent — has spread West, informing ideas about healthy lifestyles with holistic skin care, diet and exercise. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have propelled ayurveda further into the mainstream, as housebound yogis, chefs and spa owners — believers,…
INDIA, August 14, 2022 (The Organiser, by Mahendra Kumar): As we celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (the magical energy of India’s independence) our glorious Tricolor waving in its full glory can be seen all across the country. Independence Day celebrations aren’t just to celebrate our freedom, it is also a way to pay tribute to the innumerable freedom fighters of…
INDIA, August 12, 2022 (Religion News by Murali Balaji): My dad was born in 1946, a year before India’s independence from British rule. (My mother was born a decade later in Puducherry, which would only become wholly independent of French rule in 1963.) Growing up in newly independent India, his post-World War II, post-independence generation was encouraged to adopt a…
Enjoy this short video of the spectacular annual festival at Sri Lanka’s foremost temple:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-Znp2kOfU
JAMMU, INDIA, August 11, 2022 (Daily Excelsior): Raksha Bandan festival which is observed on the last day of the Hindu Lunar month of Sawan was celebrated across Jammu with traditional fervor and gaiety today despite the heavy downpour during the day. Keeping the age-old tradition alive, the sisters of all age groups right from old women to girls tied rakhis…
TIRUPATI, INDIA, August 10, 2022 (Deccan Chronicle): The abode of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala witnessed a huge surge in devotees on Tuesday. All compartments in the Vaikuntam queue complexes were packed to capacity and devotees had to wait in long queues to have darshan. While all the pilgrim accommodation counters at Tirumala have put up no vacancy boards, it was…
RAJKOT, INDIA, August 9, 2022 (News Walli): Shravan is a holy month in Hinduism dedicated to the worship of Lord Siva. In Rajkot Central Jail Hindu prisoners are fasting the entire month of Shravan. The prisoners also worship the Shivalinga every day in the Shiva temple in the prison premises. Suresh Bhalia, a prisoner who is serving a sentence in…
HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 11, 2022 (Deccan Chronicle): With 20 days left until the Ganesha festival, sculptors are preoccupied making the first-ever clay statue of Khairatabad Ganesha (which is built each year for the festival). The statue, in the form of Sri Panchamukha Maha Laxmi Ganapati, weighing 45 tons, will be 50 feet tall when completed. The statue on the left…
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, June 30, 2022 (India West, by Geeta Sikand): Recently, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Report has falsely attacked India for curbing the religious freedom of its minorities. It has recommended placing India on the blacklist as a “Country of Particular Concern,” a practice that began in 2020. Ajay Shah, President of the US-based Hindu Policy…