IANSDURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, September 8, 2003: South Africa’s first national convention on Hindu unity has been hailed as “an unqualified success” by South African Hindu Maha Sabha president Ashwin Trikamjee. The two-day conference was attended by 370 delegates from 108 Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati and Telugu linguistic and community groups from across the country to discuss a wide range of issues.…
SourceHANOI, VIETNAM, September 11, 2003: A five-member troupe of the Indian classical dancing style known as Kathak, led by Keya Chanda, one of India’s best-known Kathak performers, made a performance on Wednesday night at the Hanoi Opera House. This performance showed Hanoian audiences how this dynamic art conveys popular Hindu religious stories. The performance is part of the Vietnam-India cultural…
SourceMAURITIUS, September 9, 2003: (translated from the original French) The Mauritius Sanatan Dharma Temples Federation (MSDTF) has obtained 23 annual scholarships from Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyaputha and the New Delhi Academy of Sanskrit for those that want to become purohits (priests). They will complete a three-year course with two universities in Delhi and be awarded certificates upon successful…
SourceEUGENE, OREGON, September 10, 2003: Arun Toke, editor of Skipping Stones magazine writes, “The most important lesson that 9/11 offers us is that we engage in a continuing dialogue to overcome prejudice with understanding, hatred with love, injury with forgiveness, suffering with compassion, and terror with peacefulness. Out of this tragedy have risen opportunities for understanding the many levels of…
SourceTAMIL NADU, INDIA, September 11, 2003: He is a Hindu holy man who has renounced the material world, yet he is also a business tycoon who employs thousands of people. Christian Fabre, or Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadhuta as he is now known, is a French citizen living in India. He became a Hindu holy man, or sadhu, some years ago…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, September 10, 2003. The Bagri Foundation in London has announced a series of lectures to be delivered by specialists at the School of African and Oriental Studies, London University, in the months of October and November. These annual lectures will be delivered by a number of specialists on Hindu affairs. All lectures will begin at 6.45 pm and…
SourceKATARAGAMA, SRI LANKA, September 1, 2003: A sixteen-day festival in honour of the God Kataragama (Murugan) has drawn huge crowds this year as pilgrims feel safe travelling on their island since the ceasefire of February, 2002. Walking on burning ambers, skewering cheeks and tongues with tiny spears, or piercing their backs with small hooks, devotees hope to assuage karma with…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, September 9, 2003: For 24 years, the Kote area and the Kotiamaramma Temple in Channapatna taluk near here had remained tense every time a Ganesha icon passed through the locality. But this year, it was a big surprise for the residents as the local administration took the initiative to build bridges. Muslims of the area welcomed the procession…
SourceCALCUTTA, INDIA, September 8, 2003: Scientists report they have found evidence of the oldest human habitation in India, dating to two million years, on the banks of the Subarnarekha River. The 30-mile stretch between Ghatshila in the province of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj in Orissa has reportedly yielded tools that suggest the site could be unique in the world, with evidence…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, September 4, 2003: Private television networks are turning to religion to tap a massive Hindu viewership, but say the religious channels are neither a platform to grab votes nor an attempt to peddle faith. TV channels like Aastha and Sanskar beam 24-hour religious programs to millions of homes, especially in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.…