MADE IN HEAVEN: and consecrated in Kathmandu. Nepalese King Birendra's only daughter, 20-year-old arts graduate Princess Shruti, wedded Mr. Gorakh Shumshere Rana, a bank employee, at the royal palace in May, 1997. The traditional vivaha samskara, Hindu Vedic marriage ceremony, was attended by over 2,000 guests, royal family members and celebrities from afar. Gorakh is a relative of the Queen, who is of the Rana lineage that ruled before 1950.
EXPIRED: Ms. Pupul Jayakar, age 81, the "grand old lady of Indian culture," in Mumbai on March 28. Born in the former United Provinces, she was chairperson of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, and personal advisor to the prime minister on art and culture. "My mother lived a full and happy life," said Ms. Radhika Herzberger.
CELEBRATED: Sri Sri Jagatbandhu Sundar, founder of the Mahanam Sampradaya, by the Prabhu Jagatbandhu Mahaprakash Math in Bangladesh February 19-22. Gita discussions and kirtan highlighted events. After meditating nonstop for seventeen years on behalf of world peace, Sri Sundar addressed disciples in 1944 and left his body the same day.
RELEASED: The first Hindi thesaurus, Samaantar Kosh, in Delhi this April, by Arvind Kumar and wife Kusum after toiling at it for 20 years. "Hindi has many more synonyms than European languages, so it made the task of devising and compiling the thesaurus difficult," said Kumar. "For example, there are 695 synonyms in the thesaurus for Shiva, though actually there are as many as 2,317 names used," added his wife.