SHOPPING
GIFTS GALORE
Looking for that perfect gift to send back home to India or to the US, UK and Canada? Then check out www.homeindia.com. From sweets to saris and much more, the website offers a range of special festive gifts with money-back guarantees for customer and recipient. The site has gifts of jewelry, women's wear, watches, bouquets, perfumes, just to name a few. But beware, most items can only be sent to India. During October, the site featured a special set of Diwali gifts. You can send and receive paper letters and photographs by e-mail right from the site..
TEMPLES
SUN GOD
Surya, the sun god, the giver of life and light, has been worshiped as an inexhaustible source of energy in India and elsewhere since ancient times. Explore this tradition at the Abodes of Surya, www.templenet.com/surya.html. Here you will learn that Surya is a Deity image found in many temples dedicated to Siva and that many other temples in South India were built so that the sun's rays penetrate the inner sanctum on auspicious days of the year. Click on Legends to read stories on Surya, such as the initiation of Lord Rama into Sun worship by Sage Agastya. The site includes detailed history and pictures of temples, such as the Konark Sun Temple and the Modhera Sun Temple, both well-known tourist attractions in India. There are also links to several other ancient sun temples in places such as Pakistan, Egypt and Central America..
RESOURCES
HINDU ART ONLINE
You may have seen the beautiful art in Himayalan Academy's books such as Dancing with Siva and Merging with Siva and wondered what the paintings look like in color–even, perhaps, on your wall. Now you can find out at www.himalayanacademy.com/art_sale/. Here you can order archival quality prints of these paintings in different sizes and on various materials, including canvas. Or you can purchase a digital version. The art was commissioned from three artists, two in South India–S. Rajam and A. Manivelu–and one in Bali, I Wayan Marya..
CULTURE
WED-SITE
If you are planning a wedding in the near future, then visiting www.telusplanet.net/public/ocs/ is a must. Pick a nationality, pick a religion or choose a theme to incorporate an ethnic tradition or heritage into your wedding. Under Hindu, you will find a rich section of links to books, customs and traditions, gifts and stationary, magazines, entertaining real-life stories of Hindu and mixed weddings, along with religious information explaining the parts of the Hindu marriage ceremony. There are notes on food (including a recipe for a vegetarian wedding cake) and wedding guides and directories including supplies, checklists, gifts, traditions and more. You can also find out about different kinds of Hindu weddings, like East Indian or Sri Lankan.