Source INDIA, April 16, 2016 (Scroll.us, by Sadhu Brahmaviharidas): BAPS was severely tested on 24 September 2002. What would later be classified as one of the worst terrorist attacks on a religious place in modern India engulfed the heart of BAPS. Its renowned Swaminarayan Akshardham, a 23-acre cultural complex dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, was…
Source To the growing soul, to the spirit within us, may not difficulties, obstacles, attacks be a means of growth, added strength, enlarged experience, training for spiritual victory? The arrangement of things may be that, and not a mere question of the pounds, shillings and pence of a distribution of rewards and retributory misfortunes!— Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950), Indian philosopher…
Source PAKISTAN, April 17, 2016 (Pakistan Christian Post by Saadia Haq): If like me you were born and raised in Pakistan, probably you have attended a local school where we as children learnt at an early age the “conspiracy of the non-believers against Muslims.” You may say whatever in its defense, but our reality is troubling. Just think of a…
Source PAKISTAN, April 15, 2016 (Christian Daily): Textbooks in Pakistan that are used to teach about 41 million children negatively portray religious minorities such as Christians and Hindus, referring to them as “nefarious, violent, and tyrannical by nature.” “Pakistan’s public school textbooks contain deeply troubling content that portrays non-Muslim citizens as outsiders, unpatriotic, and inferior; are filled with errors; and…
Source The atman in you is that which indwells all things.” “Tell me, Yajnavalkya, about this atman that indwells all things.” “It is that which transcends hunger and thirst, sorrow and delusion, old age and death.”— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III, 5A
PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD, April 14, 2016 (HPI by Paras Ramoutar): For several weeks now, Hindus in Trinidad have joined their counterparts in the Indian diaspora worldwide in the observance of Nau Raatri and Ram Nowi. Observances have been taking place at hundreds of mandirs, other public places and in homes. Devout Hindus have been abstaining from all forms of merriment, alcoholic…
Source INDIA, April 15, 2016 (Verve Magazine): India is known around the world for the beauty and diversity of its handicrafts and textiles. Designer, craft revivalist and textile conservationist Madhu Jain had been championing this cause for over two decades now. Some indigenous textiles and techniques that she thinks you should take note of are: Nakshi kantha embroidery: “Bangladesh’s iconic…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, Deccan Chronicle): The Supreme Court on Wednesday reiterated that denial of entry of women between the age of 10 and 50 in Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala based on custom, faith or tradition cannot defeat the constitutional principles of equality. A three-judge bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, V. Gopala Gowda and Kurian Joseph was hearing a…
Source Like the household fire, devotees seek the glory of the Lord even from afar and enshrine it in their inner chamber for enlightenment. The glory of our Lord is full of splendor, all-illuminative and worthy to be honored in every heart.— Rig Veda 7.1.2
Source INDIA, April 12, 2016 (Swarajya Magazine by David Frawley): Traveling throughout India, including much time in the south, I have been trying to make sense of the proposed Aryan-Dravidian divide, and the call for a pure Dravidian culture that one hears in Tamil Nadu. The first thing one notices is that the most pure Sanskrit names are found in…