NEPAL, December 31, 2023 (NZCity): Elephants and farmers are an uneasy mix in Nepal, where a single hungry herd can destroy livelihoods — and take lives. It was midnight when the elephants came through the field where Kamal Rai used to work. He and his colleagues had just finished harvesting grass to store as hay in great, round, house-like structures,…
INDIA, December 29, 2023 (India Times): Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the invitation extended by Swami Ishwarcharandas and Swami Brahmaviharidas, along with the BAPS board of directors, to inaugurate the first ever Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on February 14, 2024. Expressing his enthusiastic support for the historic and iconic temple, the Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of key individuals,…
NEPAL, December 29, 2023 (The National News by Stuart Butler): The Kumari is a young Newari girl who is believed to have been possessed by the Goddess Taleju (Durga); the Newari are the people of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. She is worshiped by Newari Buddhists and Hindus as a manifestation of divine female energy. Always a young girl, the…
KAUAI, HAWAII, December 30, 2023 (HPI): A reader sent us the link (below) to this manuscript. It is in English and intended for youth 12 to 18 or so. The book is easy to read and covers all the basic of Hinduism. From the introduction: “The Board of Trustees of the Central Hindu College has laid down the following principles…
CHENNAI, INDIA, December 20, 2023 (The Hindu): It’s exactly 6 a.m. at Mada Street in Chennai’s Mylapore, and school children dressed as various mythological characters are getting ready to perform. Popular Carnatic vocalist Saketharaman gives them the cue, and the group begins walking along the road, singing Margazhi Thingal, a verse from the Thiruppavai. Even as Mylapore wakes up to…
CHENNAI, INDIA, December 20, 2023 (The Hindu): Come December, and Chennai springs to life with the sound of Carnatic music. Sabhas — as performing spaces are referred to — come alive, as vocalists and instrumentalists put forth their best performances, dishing out popular and rare kritis and varnams. It’s not just the city’s rasikas who look forward to this Margazhi…
INDIA, December 16, 2023 (New York Times): Want to raise a child with the business acumen of the industrial tycoon Ratan Tata, the concentration powers of the spiritual guru Swami Vivekananda, the scientific brilliance of the nuclear hero A. P. .J. Abdul Kalam and — of course — the confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi? In India, there is an…
KAUAI, HAWAII, December 16, 2023 (HPI): “A Visit to the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple” created by Hinduism Today was published on YouTube today. Funded by Uberoi Foundation, it is intended to assist in the presentation of the Buddhist religion in California 6th grade social studies classes. The ten-minute video is hosted by Rimban William Briones who describes the…
SRINAGAR, December 13, 2023 (Times Now News): Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) authorities began to repair the damaged boundary wall of Shardha Peeth a day after Home Minister Amit Shah registered a complaint about it. Kashmiri Pandits have also raised the issue of Shardha Peeth with the PoK Civil administration. Shardha Peeth Temple, situated in Neelam Valley of PoK, is an ancient…
GREAT BRITAIN, December 15, 2023 (Atlas Obscura): October 25, 2022 has been called Britain’s “Obama Moment”: On that day, Rishi Sunak became the country’s first ever non-white Prime Minister. But Britain’s current head of government represents an even bigger change. As a practicing Hindu, Sunak also is Britain’s first non-Christian PM. And although Sunak won his post via an internal…
