CHENNAI, INDIA, June 8, 2022 (Hindustan Times): The famous Nataraja temple in Chidambaram on Tuesday did not allow officials of the Hindu, Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) to check their accounts, saying they have “no jurisdiction to call for records or inspect the premises.” This happened a day after the pontiff of Madurai mutt, an ancient Hindu monastery, called for…
JAIPUR, INDIA, May 31, 2022 (BBC, By Shalbha Sarda): Created 300 years ago, Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar is an outdoor complex filled with gargantuan astronomy tools designed to be used by the naked eye – and they’re still accurate. The site – a 300-year-old collection of 20 scientific sculptures called yantra that can measure the positions of stars and planets, and…
UNITED STATES, June 8, 2022 (College News): Most higher education institutions across the United States lack religious groups representing Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish students, according to a new peer-reviewed study by The Conversation. The study involved religious student groups at 1,953 four-year, not-for-profit colleges and universities in the United States. Data revealed there are Muslim student groups at only…
SRINAGAR, INDIA, June 1, 2022 (Reuters): More than 100 Hindu families have fled Kashmir as panic spread after the killing of a Hindu school teacher in India’s only Muslim-majority region, a community leader said on Wednesday. Militants on Tuesday shot dead Rajni Bala, 36, outside a government school in Kulgam that lies south of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar —…
CALIFORNIA, June 3, 2022 (Hindu American Foundation): AB2282 will make California the first state to: 1) Recognize the swastika as a symbol of peace to the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist communities in its penal code, adding a layer of protection; and 2) Identify the Nazi emblem as the “hakenkreuz” and “hooked cross”. These are two monumental victories in recognizing and…
INDIA, May 31, 2022 (Odisha TV): Puri, popularly known as Jagannath dham, is one of the four divine sites for every Hindu. Here, Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, along with His siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, are worshiped in the world famous temple. For the uninitiated, a total of 148 festivals are celebrated in the temple annually.…
CALIFORNIA, U.S., May 30, 2022 (Hindu American Foundation): The California State Assembly passed AB.2282, taking a historic step and leading the nation as the first state legislative body to legally recognize the difference between the swastika and the Nazi emblem, the hakenkreuz. HAF’s Fremont-based Managing Director, Samir Kalra, Esq., stated “HAF and Assemblywoman Bauer-Kahan both recognize that the passage of…
UNITED KINGDOM, May 30, 2022 (BBC): Laurence Candy is not only giving up farming animals, he is looking to get vegan accreditation. It was after Laurence Candy lost most of his dairy herd to bovine tuberculosis that he decided he would no longer send animals to the slaughterhouse. “It made me wonder if we can justify the industrial slaughter of…
BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA, May 27, 2022 (COHNA): The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) expressed its strong disappointment around California Assembly’s decision to pass Bill AB2282, titled “Hate crimes: nooses, crosses, and swastikas,” whose purpose is to criminalize the display of hate symbols. While the bill is well meaning, it perpetuates confusion by once again using false and hateful…
NEPAL, May 27, 2022 (The Wire): Hindus believe the rudraksha, the dried seeds of the Elaeocarpus ganitrus tree that grows in the foothills of the Himalayas, are made from the tears of Lord Shiva and hold them sacred. While there is no such story in Buddhism, the depiction of the Buddha, like many sacred figures in the region, wearing rudraksha…