GO TO SOURCE SIKKIM, INDIA, August 22, 2002: In the last ten years Sikkim, a state in NE India sheltered in the Himalayas, has undergone changes. A senior bureaucrat in the Sikkim government says, “Our religio-demographic pattern has undergone such a change in the last decade that Sikkim is no more a land of Hindus and Buddhists.” The article says,…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 21, 2002: Swami Satchidananda, initiated into the sannyasa (Hindu monasticism) by Swami Sivananda on the banks of the Ganges River, July 10, 1949, died Monday in Madras (Chennai), South India. Swami arrived in America on the crest of a wave of fascination with India in the 1960’s, as sitar music, meditation and…
GO TO SOURCE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, August 23, 2002: A Chicago-based company has created a process for turning cremated bodies into diamonds. LifeGem is taking orders to make jewellery from the carbon remains of people or pets for US4,500. Dean Vanden Biesen, who helped set up the company, says the idea came from his brother who is also working on the…
GO TO SOURCE GODHRA, INDIA, August 22, 2002: Giving a sensational new turn to the investigation of the Godhra massacre, a Hindu youth, who has admitted to having been a member, albeit unwilling, of the group (otherwise all Muslim) that ferried inflammable material to the spot where the Sabarmati Express was stopped on the fateful morning of February 27, has…
GO TO SOURCE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, August 19, 2002: In the past thirty years, the religious landscape of the U.S. has changed radically. Islamic centers and mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and meditation centers are found in virtually every major American city. How Americans of all faiths begin to engage with one another in shaping a positive pluralism is one of…
Source: Times News Network MAHUDI, GUJARAT, August 20, 2002: It was pure vitriol that flowed out of this pilgrim village on Tuesday as religious leaders from across Gujarat representing various sects gave vent to their disenchantment with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. According to this report, they said the BJP-VHP combine used them for 20 years to…
Source: Associated Press MOSCOW, RUSSIA, August 17, 2002: Police in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Saturday arrested about a dozen members of a Hindu group who were protesting alleged religious persecution, Russian news agencies reported. The reports said between 10 and 13 members of the Shiva Society were arrested. Belarus authorities could not be reached for comment. In mid-July,…
Source: Hindustan Times BEIJING, CHINA, August 19, 2002: A group of Chinese girls are excelling in the niceties of Indian classical dance in Beijing. “I can’t believe this. I am highly impressed. The Chinese children are performing much better than some of their Indian peers,” said renowned Indian dancer, Mallika Sarabhai after she saw a live performance of Bharatnatyam and…
Source: Hindustan Times HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 17, 2002: Tourists planning to visit the pilgrim town of Tirupati should take note; shorts and bermudas are not permitted at the shrine of Lord Venkateswara. Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD), administrators of the Hindu temple, is planning a dress code for visitors. Anything that shows flesh — either male or female — or causes…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 12, 2002: Jaiprakash Gupta is a seller of kites, though his business nowadays is not flying high. Gupta is quick to point out the reason for the downturn in the kite business. “It is not about the money, people have money to spend. It is just that their interests have changed. Children would…