SourceNOIDA, INDIA, March 3, 2004: Hundreds of students at a premier school in Noida on Wednesday took part in a special prayer ceremony to seek divine blessing ahead of their career-determining high school examinations, considered to be most crucial. Organized by a school in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, the ritual was performed with full Hindu rites, as…
SourceMADURAI, INDIA, March 2, 2004: The ongoing work of installing silver kavacham (ornate covering of the Deity and sanctum) at the Velliambalam in the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple at a cost of around US$165,000 will be completed by the end of next month. The chairman of the renovation committee, Karumuttu T. Kannan, told reporters that 50 percent of the work to…
Kumudini MayurWASHINGTON, D.C., March 4, 2004: “I seldom recognized why I was here for the time passed like a second. My life was too fast as if it was a legend,” wrote Rashmi Mayur prophetically in “Poetry of Life,” his last collection of writings, which he wrote while he was recovering from a stroke in Mumbai, India. On February 10,…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, February 29, 2004: Indian youth has a new relationship with religion, according to this BBC report. Bachia Karkaria, The Times of India Associate Editor, writes about contemporary attitudes of faith and in particular Hinduism. God has a new incarnation in India–cool, user-friendly, results-oriented and upwardly mobile, says this article. Like the sitar, guru shirts and transcendental meditation in…
SourceEDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA: The Maha Ganapati temple in Edmonton, Canada has planned activities for the Alankaara Utsavam (2004 annual festival). Starting on Tuesday, June 16th, and culminating on Friday, June 25th, festivities are outlined at “source” above. Devotees can sponsor pujas, prepare and serve meals or offer abishekam milk in containers. Music on each day of the festival will be…
SourceMALAYSIA, March 3, 2004: Dada J.P. Vaswani, the renowned Sindhi religious leader and Hinduism Today’s Hindu of the Year for 2003, is now visiting Singapore and Malaysia. He is in Singapore from March 1 to 9, for information, call 90103855. He arrives in Penang on the 10th, information can be gotten at 016 4526132. He departs for Kuala Lumpur on…
SourceGERMANY, March 3, 2004: Journalist Francois Gautier sends the following report. “As you know one of the biggest problems today is that Indian journalists are not always proud of their own culture and roots and, as result, tend to have a very negative outlook on India, which, in turn, influences Western correspondents posted in India. It is therefore very important…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, February 26, 2004: Chennaiwasis (Chennai residents), according to this article, are exhibiting their religious fervor throughout the city when a decade ago religious observances were confined to the home plus women visiting temples on Fridays and Tuesdays. The article says, “The official figures may say that there are some 5,000 large and medium-sized temples across Tamil Nadu, but…
SourceUNITED KINGDOM, February 26, 2004: According to a recent survey, Britain is one of the least religious countries in the world. The poll of 10,000 people in 10 countries found only 46% of British people said they have always believed in God, 27% less than average and above only Russia (42%) and South Korea (28%). The UK had the highest…
SourceDELAWARE, U.S.A., February 28, 2004: When 18-year-old Nikhil Neelkantan of Newark got his driver’s license, the first place he drove was the Hindu Temple in Hockessin for reflection and prayer, begins this article. Since then, he has gone to the temple every week, surprising his father, Neel, who emigrated from India 35 years ago. “When we grew up in India,…