Source HYDERABAD, INDIA, September 3, 2017 (Deccan Chronicle):The Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Samiti announced on Saturday that the massive statue will be made from clay and will use natural colours for the Ganesh Chaturthi next year. It will be for the first time in 63 years that the Khairatabad Ganesh will not be made of plaster of Paris. Samiti member Raj…
Source SUVA, FIJI, September 6, 2017 (Fiji Sun): The teachings and lessons from the scriptures about Lord Ganesha are very much universal and are applicable and even have relevance to us in this modern day and age. This was the message from Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at the occasion of Ganesha Utsav. Ganesha Utsav is now an annual event in Fiji…
Source INDIA, September 4, 2017 (palimpsest.co.in): Set in pre-militancy Kashmir, Dr. Karan Singh’s only novel till date takes the reader on an exhilarating journey to the snowclad peaks of the Himalayas, lakes and chinar forests. It’s a time much before militancy and security barricades disrupted the carnival mood in the Valley. Ashok, a corporate honcho, holidaying Srinagar, discovers his old…
Source NEPAL, September 4, 2017 (Mission Network News): [HPI note: MNN is a Christian Missionary Group, which explains the slant of this article. It doesn’t actually explain what the new laws are, but we suspect they may be similar to the long standing laws against proselytism in Greece–https://www.hinduismtoday.com/blogs-news/hindu-press-international/legal-restrictions-on-religious-freedom-in-greece/15928.html).] Christianity in Nepal has two main bullies–Hindu radicals from within the country,…
Source AUSTRALIA, September 4, 2017 (News Corp Australia): The picture it sought to paint was one of common ground. Unity. The bringing together of diverse backgrounds around a common Aussie backyard barbecue. It didn’t work. The Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) lamb campaign (video at “source” above) was referred to the Advertising Standards Bureau within days of its release over…
Source NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 30, 2017 (Lassi With Lavina by Lavina Melwani): You’ve heard of Versace, St. Laurent and Prada – now here comes Temple Fashion! If you can dress for social events, then why not for God? When it’s Ganesh Chathurthi, the nine-day festival dedicated to that most beloved of Gods, Ganesha, people go all out to…
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, September 3, 2017 (YouTube): Every month a team of 60 young and elderly volunteers visits temples in the Chennai area to do cleaning. They clean the brass, the floors, the walls, the pillars using all natural and eco-friendly products. Cleaning brass without harsh chemicals is as easy as using tamarind and lime juice. These natural brass cleaning…
Source To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good: to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one’s spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness.— Swami…
Source Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man and silence is necessary in order to surmount it.— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian spiritual leader
Source CADIZ, SPAIN, August 28, 2017 (El Pais, translated from Spanish): The scene is at least curious, but not new: the Hindu God Ganesh, being carried on a palanquin, enters the sanctuary of the church of Our Lady of Africa of Ceuta. There, at the feet of the virgin (the patron saint of the autonomous city), members of the Catholic…