USA, August 14, 2023 (Christianity Today, by Stefani McDade): HPI Note: we found this long article instructive in understanding recent statements about “Sanatana Dharma” coming out of South India. “I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate,” Oxford professor and renowned atheist Richard…
NEW DELHI, September 5, 2023 (Business Today): A towering 28-foot-tall statue of Nataraja has been installed at Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the upcoming G20 Summit in Delhi. Sculpted by eighteen South Indian experts in bronze, the world’s tallest Nataraja statue stands at the entrance of the convention hall at Bharat Mandapam. The statue symbolizes Lord Shiva as the Lord…
SALANGPUR, GUJARAT, INDIA, September 5, 2023 (Republic World): A Swaminarayan sect on Monday said it will remove controversial wall murals installed on the pedestal of a giant statue of Lord Hanuman at a temple in Salangpur town of Gujarat’s Botad district. In some of the murals at the famous Hanuman temple in Botad, the revered God is shown as a…
PAKISTAN, January 23, 2021(How2HaveFun by WIK): I have been to quite a few Hindu Temples in Pakistan and hear stories of families living there for ages having to move out overnight during Partition. Combine that image with the dilapidated condition of long-abandoned Hindu Temples, this does not make a pleasant sight. But some, with their gold, saffron, and orange colors,…
SRINAGAR, JAMMU/KASHMIR, September 2, 2023 (Daily Excelsior): The annual pilgrimage of Chhari-Mubarak Amarnath Ji culminated today at Pahalgam with its last rituals Pujan and Visarjan, which were performed at the bank of River Lidder. A sizable number of sadhus and tourists who had come from various parts of the country joined the Pujan. Later, Bhandara was organized and Dakshina was…
INDIA, August 29, 2023 (The Organiser, by T. R. Ramesh): Government control over places of Hindu worship across India is in violation of constitutional provisions and various court orders. Yet it continues. In Tamil Nadu alone, 400 temples and their valuable properties have been suffering colossal mismanagement and annual losses of thousands of crores for over 70 years now. The…
INDIA, August 30, 2023 (Organiser): On the eve of Raksha Bandhan, the first Rakhi was tied to Bhagwan Mahakal on August 30 in the courtyard of Baba Mahakaleshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain. A Bhasma Aarti was also performed and laddoos were distributed among devotees. It is a tradition to tie the first Rakhi to Lord Mahakal, a form of…
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, August 30, 2023 (Free Malaysia Today): For the many migrant workers who have traveled from Nepal to Malaysia in search of better wages and opportunities, spending nights alone without the company of their loved ones has become part of their lives. That loneliness can play on their minds and, without the love of their families, there is…
FORT BEND, TEXAS, August 30, 2023 (Houston Chronicle): Eduardo Hernandez, captain at the Northeast Fort Bend Fire Station 2 in Richmond, stood patiently while a young lady finished tying a silk thread around his outstretched wrist. Around him, other firefighters sporting matching bracelets enjoyed Indian sweets as they guided children around the fire station. The visitors were members of the…
UNITED STATES, August 28, 2023 (The Print, by Sudarshan Ramabadran): Today marks the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His work on advocating for civil rights for Black Americans was also complemented by the actions of several others, perhaps the most well-known being Rosa Parks’…
