New York Times Covers Amarnath Pilgrimage

GO TO SOURCE KASHMIR, INDIA, August 5, 2002: This long New York Times report begins, “Shouting ‘Hail Hail Shiva!’ thousands of Hindu pilgrims crowded two narrow dirt tracks high in the Himalayan mountains of the disputed territory of Kashmir. Even though the pilgrimage is purely religious, it has not escaped the conflict in this battered territory. The threat of attacks…

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Four Religions Plan for Multi-Faith School

Source: The Guardian (London) LONDON, ENGLAND, July 8, 2002: The Church of England has thrown its weight behind an extraordinary proposal to unite Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu children in the country’s first multi-faith secondary school. The plans, backed by leading figures from all four of Britain’s main religious groups, are aimed at transforming the image of faith-based education which…

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Hindu Rituals Give Life to Temple

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel PEWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, June 30, 2002: When Prem Sharma came to the United States in the 1960s to study at Marquette University’s dental school, the Burma native and a handful of Hindu families would hold prayer meetings in their houses for lack of a space to worship. Having long outgrown gathering in basements, a burgeoning Wisconsin Hindu…

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On-line Prayer Services Pay Off

Source: Toronto Star ONTARIO, CANADA, June 30, 2002: When an astrologer warned Anasuya Dhanrajgir that bad luck was on her horizon, she took the road increasingly travelled by modern Hindus. In the old days, the astrologer’s advice might have suggested the 39-year-old Anasuya to take a 900-mile journey to a temple on the southern tip of India. Instead, the stage…

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Omaha Restaurant Transformed into Hindu Temple

Source: Omaha World-Herald OMAHA, NEBRASKA, July 10, 2002: From sunup to sundown, 11 Indian workers commit themselves to the meticulous duty of crafting a Hindu temple. The visiting temple carvers work in a building tucked away in a corner of southwest Omaha. Slowly, the unique temple architecture is distinguishing itself from the area’s common strip malls. The renovation is one…

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Paramhans Opposes High Court Suggestion for Excavation in Ayodhya

GO TO SOURCE AYODHYA, INDIA, August 3, 2002: Ram Janambhoomi Trust president Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans on Saturday opposed the Allahabad high court’s suggestion for excavation at the disputed temple site in Ayodhya. “The makeshift temple cannot be shifted to facilitate excavation as it has been existing there for long and no court or government will be allowed to effect shifting…

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State-level Autonomous Body Soon to Ensure Temple Rituals

GO TO SOURCE VIJAYAWADA, INDIA, July 28, 2002: The Endowments Minister, D. Sivarama Raju, on Sunday said that the Government would soon set up an autonomous State level advisory council for ensuring proper conduct of puja, worship, and other rituals in temples as ordained in the scriptures. The proposed advisory council would be filled with Vedic pundits, archakas (priests) and…

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Asian Indians at Greater Risk of Heart Disease

Source: MSN BERKLEY, CALIFORNIA, July 28, 2002: Asian-Indians are at a greater risk of contracting heart disease, more so than others of any descent with high cholesterol and even smokers. Researchers from the University of California-Berkley Center for Family and Community Health have concluded that, “Indians around the globe have the highest rate of heart disease, usually two to three…

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People With Religious Beliefs Recover Quicker From Grief

Source: Reuters LONDON, ENGLAND, June 29, 2002: A study done in the U.K. at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London, indicates that people who practise religion recover more quickly and heal faster when a relative or close friend dies. Dr. Michael King and his colleagues studied 129 relatives and close friends of patients who had a…

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Freed Bonded Laborers Thank Swami Agnivesh

GO TO SOURCE GWALIOR, INDIA, July 10, 2002: The initiative of Swami Agnivesh freed 89 bonded labors and their families of almost ten years. The contractors subjected them to exploitation, molestation, rape and all sorts of inhuman treatment. “We had a sound sleep last night and the bright sun this morning is making us realize the end of the slavery…

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