Source: www.wscountytimes.co.uk CRAWLEY, UK, July 31, 2009: The opening of Crawley’s new mandir and community center in Ifield, planned for this month, has been put back to the end of the year. So far, delays have cost the funding organization, the Gurjar Hindu Union, US$320,000. Now they may have to pay an additional $830,000, due to the councillors’ decision to…
Source: www.pr-inside.com PARIS, FRANCE, July 27, 2009: Paris’ Fete de Ganesh, a colorful celebration, will be held August 30, 2009, centering around the Sri Manicka Vinayakar Alayam Temple, in the Little India district of the city. A procession will depart from the temple around 11am and weave its way through the streets of Paris, passing through various areas including the…
Source: www.pib.nic.in INDIA, August 3, 2009: Cremation of dead bodies on ghats at the banks of rivers is an age-old practice. However, disposal of poorly cremated bodies is a source of river pollution. Setting up of electric crematoria has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the National River Conservation Plan and to address the pollution by…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com We owe a lot to Indians, who taught us to count, without which no worthwhile discovery could have been made. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Source: www.smithsonianmag.com TANNA, VANATU, February 2006: Every year, February 15 is John Frum Day on the remote island of Tanna in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. On this day, devotees descend on the village of Lamakara from all over the island to honor an American messiah, called by the locals “John Frum.” The island’s John Frum movement is a…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Eternal, pure, groundless, death-and-birth free, pervasive, ever immaculate, distant, near, enveloping effulgence of void, the support of all, the fullness of bliss, the consciousness-form beyond thought and speech, That which thus stood, the expanse vast that generates bliss, let us contemplate. Tayumanavar (1706-1744), South Indian devotional poet
Source: news.bbc.co.uk UNITED KINGDOM, July 31, 2009: India is facing more hunger and malnutrition, a report by Indian campaign group, the Navdanya Trust, says. Prominent environmentalist Vandana Shiva, who runs the trust, said there were now more hungry people in India than in sub-Saharan Africa. The government has not responded to the report which was released on Thursday. But it…
Source: www.sj-r.com SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, USA, August 2, 2009: Dr. Dharmendra Nimavat says he doesn’t expect his children to fully understand all of the meaning behind Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu festival the family will celebrate Wednesday. But when his young daughters tie bracelets of silk, cotton and plastic — called rakhis — around the wrist of their brother, they will be…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Eternal, pure, groundless, death-and-birth free, pervasive, ever immaculate, distant, near, enveloping effulgence of void, the support of all, the fullness of bliss, the consciousness-form beyond thought and speech, That which thus stood, the expanse vast that generates bliss, let us contemplate. Tayumanavar (1706-1744), South Indian devotional poet
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com INDIA, August 2, 2009: Rakhi is celebrated in various ways all over India. In the West, Rakshabandhan is celebrated as Nariyal Purnima. Coconuts are thrown into the sea as a mark of respect and offering to Lord Varuna. In the South, the day is celebrated as Avani Avittam. This day is auspicious, especially for the Brahmin community as…