SourceBANARAS, INDIA, September 12, 2003: The rising waters of the Ganga has not only submerged the bathing ghats but also disrupted many of the ceremonies like “Ganga aarti” (worship of the river with lights) and even cremations at this pilgrim city. For the past few days, the river has been swirling over the time-worn steps of the numerous ghats, forcing…
Ruder Finn New YorkKOCHIN, INDIA, SEPTEMBER, 2003: The celebration of Mata Amritanandamayi’s birthday, called Amritavarsham 50, will include an interfaith summit, a women’s meeting for peace and an international youth rally in which 100,000 youth are expected to participate. There will be cultural programs featuring Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, L. Subramanian, Jagjit Singh and troupes from Australia, Africa, Japan, Ireland,…
Vivekananda Centre LondonENGLAND, September 13, 2003: The BBC Radio 4 service is featuring a program “Story of Nivedita (Swami Vivekananda’s foremost woman disciple) on Monday, September 15 at 8pm London Time. The Vivekananda Centre is part of a series exploring ideas of heaven and hell in different faiths which air on BBC World Service Radio on September 17, 24 and…
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…