SRI LANKA, November 24, 2021 (YouTube): We all see grand temples built in stone. We admire them in awe and we wonder how they were built and sculpted with so many stories built into them. This YouTube video was filmed at the Thiruketeeshwarar temple in Sri Lanka which is undergoing an expansion. Sthapati Selvanathan and Smt. Ponni Selvanathan explain how…
UNITED KINGDOM, November 30, 2021 (BBC): A councillor has called on schools to offer meditation classes to disruptive pupils rather than putting them in detention. Shuguftah Quddoos, who represents the Berridge ward at Nottingham City Council, made the suggestion during a discussion about exclusion rates at secondary schools. Nottingham has one of the highest exclusion rates in England. The idea…
FIJI, October 2, 2021 (The Australia Today): Indo-Fijian Pastor Rajesh Goundar of El-Shaddai Assemblies of God Church in Lautoka is seeking forgiveness for his actions in demolishing a Hindu God’s statue at a home. A video of this incident has gone viral in Fiji where some people can be clearly seen breaking and removing the statue of Bhagwan Hanuman. Pastor…
KAUAI, HAWAII, November 25, 2021: Hinduism Today is looking for someone to write a story on the Theosophical movement which was begun in 1875 by Madam Blavatsky and based on Greek, Hindu, Buddhist and Spiritualist theologies. In its original form, it is a deeply mystical system acknowledging spiritual planes and beings beyond our own. A major center founded by Annie…
SRI LANKA, November 20, 2021 (dbsjeyaraj.com, by Radhika Coomaraswamy): The piercing sound of the nadaswaram filled the air. A soul-rending call, expressing the constant yearning of the human spirit, I would hear echoes of it in dark spaces in New York in the sound of the tenor saxophone. It was ther [chariot] day at the Nallur Kandasamy temple and musicians…
VARANASI, INDIA, November 22, 2021 (Chetan Pandey): HPI Note: following is a summary of a report from Chetan on various digitization projects he is engaged with in library around India. He has posted all the material on the Internet Archive site where is freely available to anyone. He reports: “We discovered an unknown library in Mumukshu Bhawan, Varanasi – courtesy…
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, November 12, 2012 (Daily Pioneer): The first-ever Physical National Yogasana Sports Championships kick-started in Bhubaneswar on Thursday with a vibrant opening ceremony in the presence of 560 bright, young athletes from 30 States aiming high for 50 medals in a uniquely-designed competition. Organized in association with the Government of Odisha, the three-day competition is a stepping stone in…
AYODHYA, INDIA, September 17, 2021 (TNN): With the rollout of the 48th layer of compact concrete, raising the 50-foot thick temple foundation to 351ft. above sea level, the fortified Ramjanmabhoomi premises was showcased for the first time on Thursday by the Temple Trust, which declared completion of the first phase of construction. Officials of the Trust confirmed that with a…
AYODHYA, INDIA, March 12, 2021 (indianexpress.com, by Anananthakrishnan G): Initially, the plan was to erect the structure on hundreds of pillars, extending underground up to the height of a three-storey building. Engineering experts engaged in the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya have dropped the initial plan to erect the temple structure on pillars because of on-site challenges, and…
DHAKA, BANGLADESH, November 13, 2021 (Xinhua): Very nice set of photos of the Rakher Upobash festival held the day at a temple in Dhaka. The fasting devotees sit for prayer with burning incense and oil lamps. According to a 2020 report in the Dhakta Tribune, “Every year, thousands of followers of Loknath, gather at different branches of Shri Shri Lokenath…