1.5 Million Devotees Attend Thaipusam 2025 in Penang
George town: more than 1.5 million Hindu devotees and tourists from across the nation and abroad attended this year’s Thaipusam festival in Penang state, Malaysia, held on February 11 at the Sri Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple.
According to an article in The Sun, Penang Hindu Endowments Board (LWHPP) Chairman RSN Rayer said that all parties—especially the temples and committees involved—had actively prepared to ensure the smooth progress of the religious event.
“Last year, the number reached one million visitors. People are not only traveling from across Malaysia but also from abroad, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and more,” said Rayer. “We expect an even larger crowd this year, because Thaipusam coincides with the school holidays.”
He addressed the media during a press conference on the 2025 Thaipusam festivities held at the temple office. At the event, he unveiled a Golden Chariot tracking system, a joint initiative between LWHPP and the company Digital Penang.
The Golden Chariot is a metal structure plated with gold. It carries a Vel (spear of Lord Murugan), and is only used for this single annual event. Made at a cost of us$181,509, it resides primarily at the nearby Maha Mariamman temple. During the festivities, it is pulled slowly by a decorated truck while devotees hold ropes on both sides. Rayer explained that devotees can access the Chariot’s location in real time through the “Pathrikai & Chariot Tracker” app, to plan ahead for prayers at nearby temples along the route.
The Golden Chariot departed from Maha Mariamman temple at 6am on February 10 and arrived at the Sri Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple the following day.
Siva Stands Tall in South America
Guyana: a 50-foot statue of Lord Siva was inaugurated in February 2025 at the Badrinaath Ashram in Essequibo Coast, Guyana. This statue is the largest of its kind in South America, marking a significant development for the Hindu community on this continent.
It was handcrafted in separate pieces in India and assembled by the founders of Triveni Mandir in Ontario, Canada. The inauguration ceremony, which auspiciously included a rain shower, took place just in time for Maha Shivaratri on February 26, 2025, according to WIC News.
The event commenced with everyone singing the national anthem of India. Participants wore traditional Indian clothing—women adorned in saris and men in kurtas and pajamas.
The event was attended by several officials, including President Dr. Irfaan Ali, Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Minister of Local Government Sonia Parag.
The ceremony marks a new chapter for Guyana and for Hinduism in the country. Another statue of Lord Siva stands at Versailles Shivala temple in the region of Demerara.
President Ali emphasized that investments of this nature are important to reinforce the sense of community, belonging, selflessness, faith and conscientiousness, which are all important tenets of Hinduism.
According to the president, his government is working on ways to support the development of pandits, pastors and imams from across the country, because faith and spirituality are essential pillars of a grounded nation.
Hindus are a significant minority group in Guyana, comprising about 25% of the population according to the 2012 census. Guyana is the country with the highest percentage of Hindus in the western hemisphere.
150 Years of Faith and Ritual for Hindus in South Africa
Every year, hundreds of devotees gather to test their faith and courage by walking barefoot over burning embers in the ancient firewalking ceremony called thimithi at the Umbilo Shree Ambalavaanar Alayam, also known as the Cato Manor Second River Temple.
MSN reported in March 2025 that this revered location, perched on a hillside surrounded by rich greenery in Cato Manor, houses Africa’s oldest Hindu temple and marks the origin of firewalking in South Africa.
The temple was once the center of a bustling community until apartheid forced devotees away. Now they are scattered, but many travel from as far as Phoenix and Shallcross to attend the temple’s various programs.
The temple celebrated its 150th anniversary in April 2025. Major renovations were completed, ensuring the preservation of its rich history and spiritual significance. The site is home to three temples. The Lord Siva temple is known as Ambalavaanar. The second temple, in honor of the Mother, is known as Sri Draupadi Alayam. The third is the Phutu (Phutuvan) Temple.
Declared a national monument in 1980, the temple stands as a testament to the enduring power of faith and tradition. Kamlanathan Naicker, the temple’s treasurer, said the renovations, which included tiling, painting and roofing, had been long overdue.
Sacred Sounds Win Grammy
The winner of the 2025 Grammy Award for best new age, ambient or chant album was Triveni, by India’s Chandrika Tandon, South Africa’s Wouter Kellerman and Japan’s Eru Matsumoto. Triveni means “the confluence of three rivers” in Sanskrit—an apt description for the album’s weave of Vedic chants, melodic flute and cello.
Tandon, a prolific musician, recounted that the title, which names the meeting point of the holy Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, came to her in one of her daily meditations.
“It was a beautiful coincidence that our album won the Grammy on Vasant Panchami while the Maha Kumbh was going on,” Tandon told RNS.
Women Take Center Stage at Holi Festival
The timeless hindu festival of Holika Dahan took on profound new meaning this year in March at the Hindu Heritage Centre in Rotorua, as the Hindu Women Forum led the celebrations in an inspiring display of spiritual strength, empowerment and cultural unity.
Holika Dahan, celebrated on the night before Holi, represents the victory of righteousness over wickedness. The ritual typically involves lighting a sacred fire, honoring Prahlad’s steadfast faith, and the destruction of evil. As reported by the Hindu Post, the organizers secured the necessary permits from Fire and Emergency New Zealand to safely conduct the Holika Dahan bonfire, ensuring a responsible and community-driven celebration.
High Court: Temple Not Allowed to Fund Resort
In a madras high court hearing in March 2025, the Tamil Nadu government withdrew its prior order allowing funds from the Masani Amman Temple in Pollachi, Coimbatore, to be used for a luxury resort project at the Western Ghats hill resort town of Ooty. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by petitioner P. Baskar against the Principal Secretary of the Tourism Department and other officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, challenging the legality of the government’s earlier order, according to The Commune.
The PIL sought a writ of certiorari to quash a government order of December 2024, which permitted withdrawing us$1.75 million from the surplus funds of the temple which are under the control of the HR&CE department. The funds were earmarked to build the resort in Ooty’s Kandal area, near the Subramanian Swamy Temple.
Senior Advocate J. Ravindran, representing the government, assisted by Government Pleader Edwin Prabakar, began the hearing by stating that the use of the term “resort” in the government order was a mistake and that the proposed project was intended to be a “Yatri Niwas” (pilgrim accommodation). However, the petitioner’s counsel, B. Jagannath, strongly opposed this claim, arguing that the government order explicitly mentioned the term “resort” in the tabulated estimates and that the project violated multiple provisions of the HR&CE Act.
Further strengthening the petitioner’s argument, a March 2025 news report from Dinamalar was presented, highlighting that devotees had raised objections against the proposed construction. Several petitions had been sent to the Chief Minister’s Office and the HR&CE Minister but this had been in vain, as there was no response.
The petitioner also cited a January 2025 judgment of the Madras High Court, which restricted the diversion of temple funds for nonreligious purposes.
After considering the submissions, the Division Bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.R. Shriram and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, remarked that the matter could be addressed either by granting an interim stay or through the withdrawal of the contested order. In response, the Additional Advocate General informed the court that the government had opted to revoke the order in question. The judgment has been welcomed by devotees and temple activists, who argue that temple funds should be utilized strictly for religious and welfare purposes as per legal provisions.
Briefly
The Kailash mansarovar yatra willresume this year. It had been paused for a few years due to an India-China border dispute, according to India West Journal. This decision is expected to strengthen cultural and spiritual ties between the two countries.
The Editors of Hinduism today recently met with Tejal Shah, President of the World Hindu Council of America, and presented a hard drive of the Agama scriptures. The palm-leaf scriptures had been digitized in a project headed by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of Hinduism Today magazine. In February 2025, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad presented the drive to Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India, who pledged to include the million-plus digital photos of palm leaves in the National Museum and Research archives.
KashiVishwanath temple in Varanasi, India, received 14 million pilgrims in just one month in early 2025. Social News XYZ stated that after participating in Prayagraj’s Maha Kumbh, sadhus and saints arrived in Varanasi, setting up a vibrant camp along the ghats of the River Ganga. Then came millions of pilgrims who had completed their Maha Kumbh bath. For some Hindus, the ritual bath at the Kumbh is considered incomplete unless followed by a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
California began a yearlong celebration in February 2025, marking 125 years since Swami Vivekananda’s first impactful visit to the state. The event took place in 1900 with his powerful lectures at the historic First Unitarian Church of Oakland. Organized by the Vedanta Society of Berkeley and the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, the celebration honors his legacy.
A re-elected Labour Government in Australia will invest $8.5 million to support the construction of the first-ever Hindu school in the country. The new primary school will be located in Oakville in northwest Sydney. According to an April 2025 press release by the Minister for Education, there are more than 680,000 Hindus in Australia. It is the third largest religion and the fastest-growing major religion, but it is underrepresented in the schooling sector. Australia’s government has funded faith-based private schools since 1964.