MUMBAI, INDIA, August 4, 2023 (Indian Express): Pepper, considered the King of Spices, has been traded around the world since antiquity, prized for its flavor, scarcity and supernatural origins. At one point, the spice became so coveted that it facilitated the Age of Discovery, as European colonial powers battled each other for dominance over the commodity. The history of the…
NEPAL, august 4, 2023 (Religion News Service, by Holly Walters): For more than 2,000 years, Hinduism, Buddhism and the Himalayan religion of Bon have venerated Shaligrams – ancient fossils of ammonites, a class of extinct sea creatures. Originating from a single remote region in northern Nepal – the Kali Gandaki River Valley of Mustang – Shaligram stones are viewed primarily…
INDIA, August 3, 2023 (New india Abroad): The Ministry of Home Affairs officially announced a new category of Ayush (AY) visa for foreign nationals seeking treatment under Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (Ayush) or Indian systems of medicine. The new visa category was announced by the Prime Minister at the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS)…
KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, August 4, 2023 (Hinduism Today): The editors of hinduism Today are working on translating the Tamil songs of Tayumanavar into English. They are seeking assistance from someone familiar with the poet and adept in both English and Tamil. This will require minutes, not hours. If you can help, please contact our Editor in Chief at sadasivanatha@hindu.org. Mahalo,…
CHENNAI, INDIA, August 2, 2023 (The Print): The Arulmigu Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple in Dindigul — believed to be one of the six holy abodes of Lord Murugan in Tamil Nadu — has been in the news over the Palani Hill Temple Devotees Organisation’s demand to ban the entry of non-Hindus. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court Monday allowed the…
AUSTRALIA, July 21, 2023 (science.org): The following is the abstract from the academic paper, “Earliest curry in Southeast Asia and the global spice trade 2000 years ago.” The principal author is Weiwei Wang of Australian National University. Abstract: The global spice trade has played an essential role in world history. However, because of poor preservation conditions, archaeobotanical remains of spices…
MARTAND, KASHMIR, July 31, 2023 (Daily Excelsior): Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits visited the remains of the Martand Sun temple here in Jammu and Kashmir today to perform Pind Daan as part of the Banmass Mela and prayed for peace for the souls of their departed ancestors. Ashok Siddha, the president of the mela Management Committee, said he is thankful to…
VAL-MORIN, CANADA, July 24, 2023 (L’info du Nord, translated from the original French): As has been the case every year for decades, the religious Kavadi ceremony took place in the streets of Val-Morin on the weekend of July 21 to 23. The participants of this ritual use music and pain to purify themselves of their sins or to ask for…
INDIA, July 27, 2023 (Daily Music Roll): It is known to everyone that the harmonium is an integral part of Indian Music, regardless of the genre. Starting from folk and classical songs to the mainstream Bollywood; harmonium has been a part of everything. While Hindustani Gharanas are enriched with the tune of harmonium, its wide use can be found in…
MALAYSIA, July 11, 2023 (Channel News Asia): When Professor Mokhtar Saidin bought a house in a private enclave in Sungai Petani, Kedah in 2005, he did not know that he was moving close to a site that would mean so much for Malaysia’s history. From 2007 to his retirement in 2021, Mokhtar made the half-an-hour drive countless times to the…
