SourceSILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, May 15, 2005: Arjun, the warrior-prince of the Mahabharata, and Maya were the most popular names given to baby boys and girls respectively by Indians in the United States. The name Arjun was given to 247 boys last year, ranking it 741 in the list of 1,000 most popular baby names in the US, compiled by the…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, May 13, 2005: When everyone is worried about losing their built up areas that serve as shops and residences to a city-wide road widening project, the magnificent gopuras of the temples stand in eloquent silence. While they are nestled among huge complexes with staircases dangerously leading out on to the street far below, historians suggest that the ancient…
SourceJOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, May 13, 2005: Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil speaking Hindus celebrated a decade of unity in a South African town as they marked the 10th anniversary of a temple where they have prayed together. The small Hindu community lives in the township of Roshnee, some 70 km south of here. The Roshnee Siva Soobramaniar Alayam has served the…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, April 29, 2005: Necessity is the mother of invention. A common cliched adage used by all; but it comes handy to report on the feet wash system introduced by officials of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Temple in Triplicane on the lines of the same facility at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. This feet wash system was launched this morning at the…
SourceNEW YORK, USA, May 13, 2005: By studying the DNA of an ancient people in Malaysia, a team of geneticists says it has illuminated many aspects of how modern humans migrated from Africa. The geneticists say there was only one migration of modern humans out of Africa; that it took a southern route to India, southeast Asia and Australia; and…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, May 13, 2005: All the big talk about healthy lifestyle and rainbow diets seem to be falling on deaf ears as people in the capital continue to spend a substantial amount of their monthly incomes on junk food and beverages. Fruits and vegetables are much below on their priority list be it the Delhiwalla or the person…
SourceBHUBANESWAR, INDIA, May 12, 2005: Nearly a hundred traditional carpenters worshipped three big logs in Orissa’s temple town of Puri in an annual ritual that precedes the carving out of three gigantic wooden chariots for the Jagannath festival in July. “We have already got the first lot of logs to begin work, the rest will come phase wise,” temple official…
SourceCANNES, FRANCE, May 14, 2005: Darshan – The Embrace, a film on the life of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, popularly known as Amma, has been officially selected for showcasing at the prestigious 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The film has been directed by Jan Kounen, an award-winning film-maker based in France, and produced by Manuel De La Roche of France. The…
SourceLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, May 12, 2005: Thousands of devotees thronged the Malibu Temple here, a large and famous temple of North America, in California’s Malibu Hills, to celebrate its 21st anniversary. The event was marked with special pujas, Rathotsavam (Chariot Procession), and the impressive cultural extravaganza, with as many as 5,000 people attending the three-day event held from May 6.…
SourceAJMER, INDIA, May 9, 2005: The famous Brahma temple in Pushkar, a Hindu pilgrimage town near here, has been declared a protected monument of national importance. The only temple in India dedicated to Lord Brahma (there are also a few in Thailand) was declared a protected monument through a Government of India Gazette notification. It was reconstructed in the 14th…