New Jersey Council Member Sworn In Office Holding The Gita

inwww.rediff.com EDISON, NEW JERSEY, USA, January 21, 2008: On being sworn in as a member of the Edison Township Council on New Year’s Day, Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad chose to take the oath of office on the Bhagwad Gita. Dr. Prasad said he chose the Gita because he grew up believing in it, and it is “where my conscience is.” Dr.…

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Religious Visa Changes in the U.S. Keynote Video Released

www.youtube.com KAPAA, HAWAII, USA, January 26, 2008: Hinduism Today releases its Keynote Video about the US R-1 Religious Worker Visa process, a controversial proposed change in U.S. law affecting the Hindu community and the future of its cultural identity. During the Second Hindu Dharma Summit in Orlando, Sannyasin Arumugaswami, Managing Editor of Hinduism Today, gave this overview of the religious…

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Buying a New Car? Get a Car Blessing

www.newindpress.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 22, 2008: What about going to a dealer who along with freebies, offers a free puja for the car with a priest in attendance? As Indian priests hop from household to household performing pujas in the capital, they now have a new job opening, performing quick puja for the customers at showrooms before they drive…

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Evicted Hindus Ponder Fate of Sacred Artifacts

www.religionnews.com EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA, January 23, 2008: (HPI note: This article refers to the foreclosure on a New Hampshire Hindu temple reported by HPI here on January 4, 2008) Six Hindu men and a woman huddled together on a 20 degrees Fahrenheit January morning along a dirt road beside a series of posted “NO TRESPASSING” signs. They had come…

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Meenakshi Temple Towers Renovated For Kumbabishekam

www.hindu.com MADURAI, INDIA, January 22, 2008: Renovation work on the towers of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, part of the ongoing works for kumbabishekam conducted every 12 years, began on Sunday. In this phase, the four Rajagopurams (north, east, west and south towers), thanga vimanam and Ainthunilai Mukuruni Vinayakar Gopuram would be completely renovated. While the works on east tower alone would…

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Conversion Destroys Religious Harmony, Says Swami

arisebharat.wordpress.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, January 21, 2008: (HPI Note: This is a summary of an opinion piece written by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.) Dr Hans Ucko is the Head of the Committee on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches. Dr Ucko, as I know him, is an upright, outspoken gentleman. He made this seemingly innocuous, but profoundly theological,…

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Conversion Destroys Religious Harmony, Says Swami

arisebharat.wordpress.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, January 21, 2008: (HPI Note: This is a summary of an opinion piece written by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.) Dr Hans Ucko is the Head of the Committee on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches. Dr Ucko, as I know him, is an upright, outspoken gentleman. He made this seemingly innocuous, but profoundly theological,…

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Thousands Throng Temples In Celebration Of Thaipusam

www.bernama.com.my KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 23, 2008: Over a million Hindu devotees thronged temples across the country in celebrating Thaipusam today. In Kuala Lumpur, 500,000 devotees and tourists made a beeline to the Sri Mariaman temple in Batu Caves in celebrating the three-day festival, which began yesterday. Up to noon, traffic heading towards Batu Caves was mostly at a crawl…

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Belief in Reincarnation Spreads Hinduism in America

www.newsweek.com NEW YORK, USA, January 24, 2008: (HPI note: this is an article from the latest issue of NEWSWEEK, January 28, 2008.) Reincarnation is an increasingly mainstream belief. Madonna has said she’s a believer. So has Kate Hudson. According to a 2003 Harris poll, 40 percent of people aged 25 to 29 believed they would return to earth in a…

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Thaipusam Declared A Public Holiday in Malaysia As Requested By Hindu Community

www.todayonline.com KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 21, 2008: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declared a popular Hindu festival a public holiday on Sunday, in an olive branch to the ethnic Indian community following months of dissent. The Thaipusam festival, during which devotees pierce their bodies with hooks and skewers, attracts more than a million people each year at Kuala Lumpur’s…

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