Source: www.ddinews.gov.in

PURI, INDIA, July 18, 2010: Millions of devotees from across the country and abroad thronged this pilgrim town when Lord Jagannath set off on his annual sojourn to his aunt’s house accompanied by elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra on three majestic wooden chariots.

Special rituals like Mangla arati and Mailam were held before the Deities proceeded out of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple after descending from the Ratna Sinhasana, the bejewelled throne. The three Deities were taken down the 22 steps of the temple known as ‘baisi pahacha’ through the Lion’s gate in an elaborate royal ritual called ‘Pahandi.’

Devotees poured into this seaside town since early morning to watch the ceremonial pulling of the huge chariots of the three Deities.

Source: www.zeenews.com

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, July 21, 2010: More than 500 Hindu temples in Sri Lanka were damaged during the war.

Voicing the demand to renovate the temples, S. Yogeshwaran said in the country’s Parliament that more than 500 Hindu Kovils (temples) need to be reconstructed. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. M. Jayarathne said foreign aid will also be obtained to develop religious places in north and east provinces in addition to government allocations.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MOSCOW, RUSSIA, July 21, 2010: Indologist Viktoria Lyssenko of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recently lecturing at Kashmir University, related that Indic Studies in Russia are flourishing.

Thanks to the initiatives of Prof Marietta Stepanyants, the author of the first textbook on Eastern philosophies, and the Indian embassy in Moscow, a unique chair of Indian Philosophy named after Mahatma Gandhi has been established at the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences. Sanskrit and courses on various branches of Indian philosophical traditions are taught. Last year, the first specialized encyclopedia of Indian philosophy, prepared by Russian Indologists, was published and the State Commission declared it the best book of the year 2009.

Source: www.ahwsngo.org

UNITED STATES, July 21, 2010: [HPI note: The following is a press release announcing the creation of a Hindu faith-based NGO by Divya Selvakumar.]

As an international development professional and nutrition specialist, I spent a couple years working in Tanzania and in India spreading the importance of nutrition awareness. During this time, I became interested in the role religion played in the implementation of nutrition programs. Upon moving to DC area a few years ago, I met representatives from and became familiar with World Vision, American Jewish World Service, and Islamic Relief. However, I could not find a non-governmental relief organization associated with Hinduism. This observation formed the idea of American Hindu World Service (AHWS), an organization focused on promoting international development and global health through Hindu faith-based perspectives. AHWS aims to promote, educate and advocate for the Hindu service aspects in international development.

Currently, AHWS is developing its agenda and is collaborating with international and domestic interfaith organizations, as well as international development professionals. The organization’s agenda will focus on the six areas articulated by the Millennium Development Goals:

.nutrition and food security
.water and sanitation
.environment
.education
.women’s empowerment
.microfinance

Due to our strong presence in American society, it is time that Hindus join forces with other religious communities around the globe for the purpose of spreading service, peace, and tolerance.

(To contact the American Hindu World Service, go the website at source above.)

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

KAPAA, HI, USA, July 29, 2010: [HPI note: Over the next weeks, HPI will bring to you some highlights of the latest issue of Hinduism Today.]

The newars are the indigenous people of Nepal’s Kathmandu valley. Most are Hindus. Their rites of passage are central to their strong social and religious traditions. These ceremonies express and celebrate the importance of the major landmarks of human life, including birth, first feeding and coming of age.

Writer Ellen Coon came to kathmandu as a Fulbright Scholar in 2004 to study newar ritual practice and concepts of feminine Divinity. Over the years, she has developed a rich network of newar friends and teachers who have generously explained their beliefs and way of life to her and even allowed her to share in their personal family observances.

[Excerpt:] In Kathmandu, we are reminded constantly of how religion binds us to place and to each other. Everywhere there is evidence of worship, from vermilion and rice grains sprinkled at the stone in front of the entrance to a home, to rice pudding lovingly offered into the mouth of the neighborhood Ganesha, to the unexpected procession in which a gold-swathed baby, a shaven-headed boy in a loincloth or a magnificently dressed elder in a palanquin is paraded through the neighborhood to celebrate entrance into a new stage of life.

These are some of the “ten karmas” or life-cycle rituals–samskaras in Sanskrit–practiced by the Newars. Of the ten karmas, I describe the seven most common, all of which I’ve seen first hand: blessing the baby, first feeding, ihi for girls, coming of age for girls and for boys, marriage and honoring one’s elders. The remaining three are also for elders, but rare. (…)

You can read the article
here

Source: www.punjabkesari.com

DEHRADUN, INDIA, July 21, 2010: Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), which overlooks the maintenance of the two temples, has scrapped the provisions of special VIP puja inside the centuries-old shrines, officials said Saturday. “Now VIPs would also have to stand in queues for having darshans of both Badrinath and Kedarnath temples,” Anusuiya Prasad Bhatt, chairman of the BKTC, said.

The two temples, among the most revered pilgrimage centers, in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region receive thousands of pilgrims every year.

Source: sify.com

INDIA, July 17, 2010: A controversy has broken out in Kerala’s famed Sabarimala temple over a court suggestion to consider widening of the temple’s 18 holy steps as well as the door to the sanctum sanctorum to allow pilgrims easier access. The head priest of the temple and a vastu expert, among others, have opposed any attempt to tinker with the temple’s original structure.

The Kerala High Court’s observations were made while considering a report submitted by the Special Commissioner of Sabarimala stating that many devotees were injured during the last festival season. The court also suggested erecting a conveyor belt to make darshan easy for the devotees.

Pilgrims have to wait for several hours before they get a chance to climb the hallowed 18 steps which lead to the sanctum sanctorum and get darshan of Lord Ayyappa.

Veteran temple vastu expert Cheruvalli Narayanan Nampoothiri said that under no circumstances would it be possible to make any changes in the basic structure of any temple according to the norms of temple vastu. “Changes just cannot take place in the basic structure. And since the Lord is installed inside no part of the sanctum sanctorum can be altered or reshaped,” said Nampoothiri.

General secretary of Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham, N. Sreenivasan, criticised the court’s suggestions saying they would hurt the sentiments of millions of believers. “Each of the 18 holy steps represent the hill Gods of Lord Ayyappa and it is impossible to widen the doors of the sanctorum of the temple for convenience of the pilgrims,” said Sreenivasan.

Source: www.sundaytimes.lk

SRI LANKA, July 2010: Western attire has been outlawed for this year’s Nallur Festival in the Jaffna Peninsula and pilgrims have been told that only the traditional sari or long skirt and full blouse for women and the verti for men will be allowed. Even the popular churidar (Salvars) worn by women have been banned.

Jaffna Mayor and festival’s Organizing Committee chairperson Yogeswari Patkunarajah told the Sunday Times the decision was taken since a large number of expatriate Tamils were visiting the peninsula in Western attire that was not in keeping with the Tamil culture of the area.

The festival which is likely to attract hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the country and overseas begins on August 15 and will go on for 25 days.

Source: www.derwesten.de

GERMANY, June 14, 2010: The inaugural celebration for the renovation of the Hindu temple at the Robert-Koch-Strasse is in full swing. Anyone who accepted followed the friendly invitation removed their shoes and entered the long, single-story building to have a look at another world.

A new statue of the Goddess Durga, the wife of Shiva, was set up in a colorful, ritually painted shrine. The shrine has been painted by an expert effort. The statue is now in place under a canopy. Priests were brought in from out of the area to conduct the ceremony.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The amount of phytoplankton - tiny marine plants - in the top layers of the oceans has declined markedly over the last century, research suggests. Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say the decline appears to be linked to rising water temperatures. The final tally included 445,237 data points spanning the period 1899-2008.

“This study took three years, and we spent lots of time going through the data checking that there wasn’t any ‘garbage’ in there,” said research leader Daniel Boyce from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The higher quality data available since 1950 has allowed the team to calculate that since that time, the world has seen a phytoplankton decline of about 40%.

If the trend is real, it could also act to accelerate warming, the team noted. Photosynthesis by phytoplankton removes carbon dioxide from the air and produces oxygen.

In several parts of the world, notably the Southern Ocean, scientists have already noted that the waters appear to be absorbing less CO2 - although this is principally thought to be because of changes to wind patterns - and leaving more CO2 in the air should logically lead to greater warming.

“Phytoplankton… produce half of the oxygen we breathe, draw down surface CO2, and ultimately support all of our fisheries,” said Boris Worm, another member of the Dalhousie team. “An ocean with less phytoplankton will function differently.” The question is: how differently?

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

There is one thing God cannot do. He cannot separate Himself from the soul.
   Yogaswami of Jaffna (1872-1964)

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CHENNAI, INDIA, July 21, 2010: It was the collapse of the temple tower at Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh that spurred experts to inspect the rajagopurams characteristic of Chennai’s temples. What they discovered were not cracks or fissures but rare sculptures including one of the Maratha king Shivaji, which embellish the intricate carvings on these structures. “While climbing up the tiers of different temple towers across the city, we stumbled upon rare murtis whose existence was unknown,” said an expert.

We noticed a sculpture of Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar sitting cross-legged, with some palm leaves in his hand, at the Kalikambal temple in Broadway. Another sculpture depicting the marriage of Shiva and Parvathi was found at the Karneeswarar temple in Saidapet,” said an official. “The Kalikambal temple also has a rare painting and a sculpture showing Goddess Kali blessing Chhatrapati Shivaji.” It is said that Shivaji visited the temple in the year 1677 and offered prayers to the deity.

Historical records indicate that Shivaji’s army came down south up to Kancheepuram, then under the sway of the Nawab of Arcot, who owed allegiance to the British. Legend has it that he visited the temple one night after he heard that the presiding deity was Kali, his favorite goddess. A long line of Maratha kings, who were descendants of Shivaji, later controlled the Thanjavur region for nearly two centuries.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.comCHENNAI, INDIA, July 21, 2010: It was the collapse of the temple tower at Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh that spurred experts to inspect the rajagopurams characteristic of Chennai’s temples. What they discovered were not cracks or fissures but rare sculptures including one of the Maratha king Shivaji, which embellish the intricate carvings on these [...]

Source: www.globalvisas.com

UNITED STATES, July 21, 2010: It has emerged that professionals from India took a third of the available US work visas under the H-1B category last year. Among foreigners living in the US on a temporary basis, India made up the largest group, second only to Mexicans. Last year there were 364,757 non-immigrant Indians residing in the US and 403,793 Mexicans. Among H-1B holders, the largest group by far were from India, with 123,002 people from the sub-continent taking H-1B US work visas last year. Overall, the leading source countries for non-immigrant residents of the US in 2009 were India, taking 36 per cent of the US visas; Canada with 6.5 per cent; the UK with 4.3 per cent and Mexico, taking 4.2 per cent.

In terms of the US student visas issued, students from five countries accounted for more than half the total number. These countries were China, taking 14 per cent; South Korea, with 13 per cent; India, taking 9 per cent and Mexico and Japan, who took 8.2 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively. California and New York headed up the list of preferred destinations for holders of temporary US visas.

Source: www.globalvisas.comUNITED STATES, July 21, 2010: It has emerged that professionals from India took a third of the available US work visas under the H-1B category last year. Among foreigners living in the US on a temporary basis, India made up the largest group, second only to Mexicans. Last year there were 364,757 non-immigrant Indians [...]

Source: www.hafsite.org

UNITED STATES, July 22, 2010: If you missed the winning essays of the Hindu American Foundation’s second annual NextGen Essay Contest, here is your chance to read what the next generation of Hindus is thinking. The question asked was, “How do you live your Hindu identity differently than your parents live theirs?” Contestants, in two categories based upon their age - 17 - 22 years and 23 - 27 years, were judged on their creativity, focus and style by a four person panel composed of HAF staff and Executive Council members. From the many worldwide entries, four outstanding essays, two in each age category, were selected as the winning entries.

At the “source” link above,” you will find intelligent pieces such as the one written by Hamsika Chandrasekar, 19, one of the winners. “Having learned both Bharatnaatyam and Carnatic vocal music for over ten years, I connect with much of Hindu lore through the medium of song and dance. Draupadi’s pain, Arjuna’s struggle, Ravana’s anger, and Krishna’s wisdom are all concepts I understand through hand gestures, footwork, facial expressions, and lyrics.” Chandrasekar is a rising sophomore at MIT, pursuing a major in Brain and Cognitive Sciences with hopes of going to medical school or working in the field of Global Health. She is trained in both classical Indian dance and Carnatic music.

Another winner is Pramal Lad, 25, born and raised in the UK. Lad left his career as a Tax Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers to join the NGO sector in Karnataka, India to train rural graduate students with the aim of securing well-paid employment. He is currently a Fellow with Indicorps, a grassroots partnership organization that places young Indians who have a willingness to give themselves fully for one year in the development of local communities in India. “Whilst my parents continue to spend many hours every day in devotional worship or Bhakti Yoga, I invest all of my time supporting the neglected rural communities of Karnataka, adding value to their lives, both present and future,” Lad wrote in his winning essay. “My parents spend many hours offering food, clothing and attention to the divine representation, whilst I work with living, breathing manifestations of the divine spirit - a subset of the hundreds of millions of Indians who are in desperate need of the same clothing, food and attention. I worship by serving the underserved…”

Shweta Thakur, a graduate of UCLA, wrote: “While my parents can feel grounded by doing pujas and considering actions of today affecting the far future, I find it more comfortable to live my Hindu identity using more tangible concepts like writing and thinking about the near future,” Thakur wrote. “The beauty of our religion is its ability to embrace all kinds of practices.”

Click on the link above for a treasure-trove of young Hindu American thinking.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com

INDIA, July 11, 2010: Security hassles at Kashi Vishwanath Temple have cut down the influx of daily devotees at the world famous temple by nearly 50 per cent, said Acharya Dr. Harihar Kripalu Tripathi, chief of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust. “The ever expanding security, which is inevitable owing to the sensitive nature of our complex, has reduced the influx of neyamis (daily devotees) at the temple in the last eight years since the three tier security cover has been set up,” said Dr. Tripathi.

A process is now underway to issue passes to the daily devotees. “We can’t do away with the security, but at least regain the neyamis by issuing passes with the cooperation of the police and administration, to ensure they not only resume their old practice of praying daily at the temple, but also have a free passage devoid of security hassles on the temple premises,” he said.

Source: www.google.com

FIJI, June 23, 2010: [HPI note: While the editorial staff of Hinduism Today works on an article about 2012, the Mayan calendar and World-End prophecies, we noticed this piece in the news. It is remarkable how fast a rumor can spread. Fiji is an unstable nation right now, which recently went through a military coup. The prophecy, fortunately, did not materialize.]

Fiji Visitors Bureau head remains in custody and police on the islands are threatening to seize more people accused of spreading panic, amidst rumors the nation will be hit by a disaster tomorrow. The chairman of the Fiji Visitors Bureau, Bill Gavoka, was detained yesterday after he sent emails to tourist operators warning of a pending disaster.

Gavoka wrote in his email that this was not a prophecy made by cult leaders, but by a mature and balanced pastor. “The prophecy is commanding a lot of dialogue in the Christian community across the country and my background was tourism. I spent 30 years in the industry and I know that they’re very vulnerable and I remember what happened in Thailand in 2004 with the Asian tsunami and I thought I would be doing my duty to alert them to this and prepare themselves for something real. According to the prophecy it will be around 2:30 in the afternoon,” he said.

The rumors have spread like fire three months after a local pastor, Laione Lutumaimuri Nacevamaca, of the Kuriako’s Christian Centre in Nadi, wrote a letter warning of events to come: “A devastating disaster will hit Fiji in June, 2010. Earthquakes and waves will hit the entire land from all directions. After the waves, strong winds and rain will follow. It will be chaotic, catastrophe that Fiji has never experienced before. This is the date and time. Mark to your calendar. Add it to your prayer lists. Get right with the Lord God!”

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

This body is a world, a universe just like the one outside, and that is why great beings all say to look there, inside. If you look outside of yourself, you won’t find anything. But what is it that has its eternal source in God? Certainly not the body. The scriptures talk of the angustha purusha (thumb-sized body) which dwells in the heart. Within it are contained all the stored desires and deeds of the individual soul.
   Swami Prakashananda

Source: www.hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 21, 2010: (HPI: The following essay by Anika Gupta is a response to Joel Stein’s recent column in Time Magazine about Indian-Americans.)

After reading Joel Stein’s column in Time magazine about Indian-Americans, many want to know why Indians can’t just take a joke.

Stein’s jokes about race, about religion and about food are accurate — but that doesn’t make them good. Why don’t Indian-Americans laugh? We have laughed. A thousand times. Every single Indian-American kid has laughed off a joke about his religion, his color or his food. We grew up laughing. Even when we asked for better treatment, we were polite. When I was 15, I circulated an e-mail petition to my friends, respectfully asking an American company to stop making toilet seats with the faces of Hindu gods painted on them.

But by the time I saw Stein’s column, I was tired of laughing. I wondered why it was okay for him to crack that same old joke about the many-armed Gods — in 2010! Or why it was okay for Time to run an article that may as well have been called, “Indians: They’re only good for funny names and ethnic buffets.”

I’m an American, and I’m also of Indian origin. I worship many-armed Gods, and I eat really spicy Andhra food. But here’s the thing that Joel Stein never saw — I’ve fought to be accepted; I’ve assimilated in ways he can’t see. The Indian grocery, the Hindu temple — these are now part of the Indian-American identity.