Source: www.tamilnet.com WASHINGTON D.C., USA, August 9, 2009: Several hundred Saiva devotees from different parts of the U.S. attended the Washington Murugan Temple chariot festival on Saturday, held annually to coincide with the festival at the Nalloor Kandaswamy Temple in Jaffna. A new chariot funded by Sri Lanka’s Tamil expatriates in New York, built in Colombo by Jaffna craftsmen, shipped…
Source: www.reuters.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 10, 2009: An ancient Indian epic about princes, demigods and a cataclysmic war is getting a makeover on Twitter — 140 characters at a time. Chindu Sreedharan, a U.K.-based lecturer, is retelling the Mahabharata using the micro-blogging service, hoping to lure readers with creative snippets posted in chronological order. “This is not quite about…
Source: online.wsj.com UNITED STATES, July 28, 2009: Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists have made remarkable strides in establishing houses of worship in America. Many are now turning to mobilize talent and resources to serve their community and the nation, institutionalizing the component of selfless service, or seva. Seva is an integral part of Dharmic culture and religious practice, from volunteering…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com “I think it would be a good idea.” Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) when asked what he thought of Western civilization
Source: www.hinduonnet.com BANGALORE, INDIA, August 7, 2009: A statue of poet-saint Thiruvalluvar near Ulsoor by the Tamil Nadu was unveiled on Sunday amidst a large turnout. Though some Karnataka groups opposed the building of the monument for years, Karnataka Chief Minister Mr. Yeddyurappa said that there has been a sea of goodwill between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the past…
Source: www.nytimes.com NEW YORK, USA, August 8, 2009: [HPI note: This is relevant to the Hindu Community in the US. It is going to completely change the context of Hindu history teaching in US schools and make it much easier to get improved material into use — with a proper portrayal of Hinduism.] Many educators say it will not be…
Source: www.thesunnews.com August 8, 2009: South Carolina’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Henry McMaster, argued in a memo Friday that the contested “I Believe” license plate–which features images of a stained-glass window and a cross–does not promote Christianity over other religions or atheism. He noted that South Carolina’s more than 100 specialty plates include one that says “In Reason We Trust,”…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Every two miles the water changes, and every four the dialect. Hindi proverb on India’s languages
Source: www.hindustantimes.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 6, 2009: Indian and American researchers say they are close to breaking the code behind the script of the Indus Valley civilization, which flourished on the India-Pakistan border 4,000 years ago. The script, found as inscriptions on numerous objects dating from that period, has puzzled archaeologists ever since Harappa was discovered in 1842. A…
Source: www.thehindu.com MALKANGIRI, ORISSA, INDIA, JULY 4, 2009: A group of former Sri Lankan rebels left the war in the late 1980’s and settled in deep rural Orissa, where they’ve been nearly 20 years. About two thousand of them came, but only hundred stayed in the small town, where they enjoy a peaceful community. A Ganesha temple was built by…