Nallur Temple Annual Festival
Enjoy this short video of the spectacular annual festival at Sri Lanka’s foremost temple:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-Znp2kOfU
Raksha Bandan Celebrated with Fervor, Gaiety
JAMMU, INDIA, August 11, 2022 (Daily Excelsior): Raksha Bandan festival which is observed on the last day of the Hindu Lunar month of Sawan was celebrated across Jammu with traditional fervor and gaiety today despite the heavy downpour during the day. Keeping the age-old tradition alive, the sisters of all age groups right from old women to girls tied rakhis…
Tirumala Witnesses Huge Surge in Pilgrim Turnout
TIRUPATI, INDIA, August 10, 2022 (Deccan Chronicle): The abode of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala witnessed a huge surge in devotees on Tuesday. All compartments in the Vaikuntam queue complexes were packed to capacity and devotees had to wait in long queues to have darshan. While all the pilgrim accommodation counters at Tirumala have put up no vacancy boards, it was…
Rajkot Central Jail Inmates Started Shravan Fast to Worship Lord Shiva
RAJKOT, INDIA, August 9, 2022 (News Walli): Shravan is a holy month in Hinduism dedicated to the worship of Lord Siva. In Rajkot Central Jail Hindu prisoners are fasting the entire month of Shravan. The prisoners also worship the Shivalinga every day in the Shiva temple in the prison premises. Suresh Bhalia, a prisoner who is serving a sentence in…
Work In full swing as Huge Clay Statue is Poised to Debut at Khairatabad
HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 11, 2022 (Deccan Chronicle): With 20 days left until the Ganesha festival, sculptors are preoccupied making the first-ever clay statue of Khairatabad Ganesha (which is built each year for the festival). The statue, in the form of Sri Panchamukha Maha Laxmi Ganapati, weighing 45 tons, will be 50 feet tall when completed. The statue on the left…
USCIRF Report on India: Little More Than a Hatchet Job
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, June 30, 2022 (India West, by Geeta Sikand): Recently, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Report has falsely attacked India for curbing the religious freedom of its minorities. It has recommended placing India on the blacklist as a “Country of Particular Concern,” a practice that began in 2020. Ajay Shah, President of the US-based Hindu Policy…
Dubai’s First Hindu Temple To Feature Statues of Lord Shiva, Ganesha
DUBAI, August 9, 2022 (Hindustan Times): The first images of Dubai’s grand Hindu temple are out. It will be open to the public on October 5 on the occasion of Dussehra festival. The temple will have 16 Deities including from South India and a separate section for Guru Granth Sahib. White marble and hand carved pillars are being used to…
Thousands of Devotees Celebrate Third Maha Kumbhabhishekam at Livermore Hindu Temple
LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA, August 9, 2020 (India Currents): Over 250 volunteers, 32 priests, three shilpis, two musicians and one sthapathi came together to celebrate the third Maha Kumbhabhishekam at the Shiva-Vishnu temple here. The festivities began July 6 and concluded July 10. It took two years of planning to pull this event together. But, as most of 2020 was wiped out…
U.S. Returns 30 Looted Hindu and Buddhist Relics To Cambodia
NEW YORK, U.S., August 9, 2020 (Huff Post): Cambodia’s ambassador to the United States said Monday that the transfer of 30 antiquities by U.S. law enforcement authorities to his country was a return of the “souls of our culture.” Ambassador Keo Chhea spoke at a ceremony where a 10th century sculpture, Skanda on a Peacock, was among several works of…
Mantra meditation: The ancient practise to heal our minds
LONDON, August 10, 2022 (BBC): The word mantra is derived from two Sanskrit words – ‘man’ meaning mind, and ‘tra’ meaning tool. Mantra meditation is used to protect practitioners from a constant onslaught of unhealthy and repetitive thoughts. But is there any science behind their effectiveness? In this film we explore why our modern mindset may be leaving many of…