DECEASED: Babua Hanuman, the world's largest monkey, in Nepal on June 17, 1997, at the age of 18. Weighing 55 kg and 40 inches tall, she was revered as an incarnation of Lord Hanuman's mother (see HT, July, 1996). Devotees thronged the Hanumat Durbar temple in Janakpur to have final darshan as Babua was paraded around the city before cremation.
PASSED ON: Karumuttu S. Chockalingam, age 54, on May 30, 1997, in Kathmandu, Nepal, while pilgrimaging to Mt. Kailas. A top Madurai businessman and Siva bhaktar, he was a strict vegetarian and performed daily yoga and temple worship. He continued pilgrimaging even though initially suffering a heat stroke, saying that "one must overcome all obstacles when on pilgrimage to Mt. Kailas."
TRANSITION: H. H. Tulsi, on June 23, 1997, in Rajasthan, India. A revered acharya and head of the Jain Terapanth order, he was a great champion of ahimsa. He launched the Anuvrat movement in 1949 to resolve conflicts in families and political systems, and taught that if individuals would change their lifestyle to one rooted in ahimsa, there would be lasting peace in the world.
GOING STRONG: Ram Chand Mahajan at age 93. President of Arya Samaj in U.S. and Canada, he created a library in Houston, Texas, to hold 4,000 Hindu books, and helped build the first U.S. Arya Samaj center. He has trained young men to chant Sanskrit mantras and perform havanas.