SourceJOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, June 15, 2003: The long abandoned Tolstoy Farm in Johannesburg, established by Mahatma Gandhi to promote the philosophy of Satyagraha, peace and harmony, is to get a fresh lease of life with a group of Indian-origin youth volunteering to restore it. The farm, situated about 45 km east of Johannesburg, has become run down and was abandoned…
SourceUDUPI, INDIA, June 17, 2003: The Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, B.K. Chandrashekar, said on Monday that the Government would take action against teachers who strike students. He was speaking after inaugurating the Kundapur Education Society’s Pre-University College at Kundapur. Prof. Chandrashekar said teachers who used corporal punishment would be dismissed and said it was incumbent upon…
Hartford CourantMIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, June 16, 2003: More than 50 children who range from ages 4 to 15 fill the Sri Satyanarayana Temple’s downstairs room every Sunday. The Temple’s Sunday school is one of about a half-dozen Sunday schools within a temple in the country, said Jyotish Parekh, president of VHP of America, a religious and cultural organization based in New…
SourcePLANET EARTH, June 20, 2003: Celestial Music Radio, an internet radio station, is now on the air twenty-four hours a day via your computer. They play an eclectic mix of kirtan, chanting, music and poetry by such celestial musicians as Krishna Das, Bhagavan Das, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, George Harrison and many more. The station also broadcasts talks…
SourceNew Delhi, INDIA, June 18, 2003: Chinese authorities have cleared the way for people from India wishing to undertake the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, officials announced Wednesday. The yatra had been delayed due to concern over SARS. An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the first batch of 30 persons will go on the pilgrimage next month, followed by nine other batches…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, June 17, 2003: It was Fritjof Capra’s “Tao of Physics” that launched Lord Nataraja as a global icon. In his book Mr. Capra wrote the dance of Siva was “the dance of subatomic particles.” He was not the first in portraying Nataraja as a universal metaphor for the interface between science, spirituality, dance and art, but he…
Agence France PresseAHMEDABAD, INDIA, June 13, 2003: A fully-computerized Hindu crematorium has sprung up in the western Indian state of Gujarat with live Internet broadcasts of funerals. Muktidham crematorium’s managers said the facility was set up to enable friends and relations of the deceased in far off places to take part in the ceremony if they were unable to personally…
SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, June 19, 2003: The Saiva Siddhanta Mandram, Malaysia, in association with 17 Saiva organizations worldwide, is hosting the ninth annual World Saiva Conference, September 26-28, 2003, in Malaysia. “Saivism for Future Generations” is the theme of this year’s conference and their objectives are: to preserve, foster, promote and develop further the Saiva Siddhanta Philosophy and Traditions of…
HPITAMPA, FLORIDA, June 19, 2003: Leaders of the Hindu Community here met with the editors of the Tampa Tribune in a continuing effort to deal with an article (see HPI, June 5, 2003) published in their newspaper called “Voyages into Madness” which cast Hinduism in a very bad light. HPI applauds the intelligent and controlled dealings of the community leaders…
Milwaukee Journal SentinelWISCONSIN, U.S.A., June 14, 2003: Some 2,000 to 4,000 Hindus from southeastern Wisconsin are expected to gather at the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin this weekend for phase two of what is known as the prana pratishthapana, or installation and consecration of deities. The main shrine in this temple is devoted to Lord Vishnu. The granite or marble murthis…