GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, Dec 23, 2001: Recent changes to Indian history textbooks have provoked an outcry that Hindu rightwingers are trying to “saffronise” the past. Critics see the move as an attempt to whitewash India’s past or, as some would rather say, paint it saffron, the color most associated with Hinduism. The controversy over changes to the…
GO TO SOURCE KANCHIPURAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, December 29, 2001: Religious and historical sites will form the basis for a “golden triangle” proposed for development by the Union Tourism Ministry. The sites, already popular tourist destinations, are Gingee with its famed fortresses from the Vijyanagar empire and near the great temple town of Tiruvanamalli, Mahabalipuram with its ancient stone monuments…
GO TO SOURCE WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, December 28, 2001: This story appearing on the web site of Christian Week is an interesting look into how missionaries deal with the ancestral religious practices of the native American Indians who convert to Christianity. Hindus are familiar with attempts of Christians in India to “inculturalize” their religion by incorporating features of Hindu puja,…
GO TO SOURCE HOUSTON, TEXAS, December 27, 2001: An international yoga conference and workshop will be held March 2 -7, 2002, at the University of Houston’s University Center on the main campus. Experts in yoga and related fields will give lectures and participate in panel discussions, while yoga therapy workshops will cover the applications of yoga in the following conditions:…
GO TO SOURCE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, December 27, 2001: Chakrapani Ullal, one of America’s foremost Vedic astrologers, offers a monthly astrology newsletter by e-mail. It contains articles by him as well as his travel and lecture schedule for the month. Subscribe at “source” above.
Source: The Hindu PATHANAMHITTA, December 24, 2001: The Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple has seen unprecedented crowds since Saturday. The police had to detain pilgrims for up to three hours as part of crowd-control measures. The line of devotees was extended on the trekking path this morning with many pilgrims waiting for eight to ten hours to enter the temple. Meanwhile, traffic…
GO TO SOURCE INDIA, December 24, 2001: With 90% of Indians unable to speak and write English, the language barrier has become a real issue as most modern day computers have an English keyboard. In an attempt to develop software that will adapt the English language alphabet so that the keys produce Indian text, many companies did not coordinate their…
Source: Chicago Tribune LONDON, ENGLAND, December 27, 2001: The days when people identified with the Church of England as an institution are past, according to this report. One recent study predicted that within a few decades, Anglicans will rank third in weekly worship, following Catholics in second place and Muslims in first. A church spokesman disagreed with the numbers, stating…
GO TO SOURCE KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, December 25, 2001: With the erstwhile Taliban regime destroying all musical instruments in the country because they were “un-Islamic,” the new Afghan interim government has sent an SOS to India for despatch of a set of musical instruments to compose the new national anthem. The Afghan cultural ministry said the country had only one recorded…
Source: The Hindu MYSORE, INDIA, December 25, 2001: The priests and employees of Sri Lakshmi Venkataramana Swamy Temple at V.V. Mohalla staged a dharna (picketing) outside the temple premises in protest against the alleged assault of a cook by a temple trustee. The representatives of the Temple Staff and Workers’ Union lodged a complaint with the V.V. Puram police. They…