(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
"God is the creator, and the best way of offering prayer to him is to
be creative. God is all loving, and the best way to serve him is to serve
humanity."
-- Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1825-1883), Hindu reformer
KERALA, INDIA, May 15, 2014 (Times Of India): [HPI Note: The logic behind
the advisor's recommendation is not explained in this widely circulated
article and remains something of a mystery.]
The best graduates from IITs and IIMs dream of the salary amicus curiae
Gopal Subramaniam has recommended for head priests of Sree Padmanabhaswamy
temple in Thiruvananthapuram. In his report to the Supreme Court on
management of the temple, which shot into the limelight after wealth
estimated at US$17 billion was discovered, Subramaniam listed the hierarchy
of priests with thantris at the top followed by periyanambi,
panchakavyathunambi, thakkadam and thiruvambadi nambis. He said the
thantris should be paid US$8,500 (rupees five lakh) per month.
Starting with the thantris, the amicus said none of the four main priests
reside within the temple complex. This is because their earnings from
conducting rituals in the temple were meagre which forced them to perform
rituals outside. He said their residential quarters too were in dilapidated
condition. "It is submitted that an amount that is proportional to the
stature of the thantris should be fixed by the temple authorities,
preferably a sum of $8,500, to be paid according to the directions of the
(head) thantri," the report said.
Subramaniam said the salaries of the four periyanambis, the high priests
who maintain celibacy during their tenure in the temple to perform archana
and offer worship to the deity, was worse. "The salaries of nambis are
very low, around $213 per month and they are not entitled to emoluments
being temporary staff," he said and provided a graded salary structure
for them as per their status in the conduct of rituals in the temple. The
amicus recommended to the apex court that "archana commission can be
fixed at 7% after consultation with the temple authorities and the salary
of the periyanambi should be around $1,500 per month". "The
panchakavyathunambi should be paid $1,365 per month as salary while
thakkadam and thiruvambadi nambis should receive $1,025 per month," he
said.
BALIKPAPAN, INDONESIA, May 5, 2014 (Kaltim Post): It's not only Indonesia's
Muslims who have the halal bi-halal ceremony. Indonesian Hindus also have a
tradition of a day dedicated to seeking forgiveness and harmony with
friends and relatives. It's called Dharma Santi and is observed after the
Nyepi New Year's day.
Dharma Santi means cleaning the mental, moral, and spiritual parts of life.
This manifests religious harmony. "It's like halal bi-halal. Where all
devotees of the religion can forgive each other. In doing so harmony is
materialized." said the chairman of the Balikpapan branch of the
Indonesian Hindu Association (PHDI), I Dewa Made Wirya Atmaja, on the
sidelines of the celebration of Dharma Santi at the Pura Giri Natha Jaya
temple on Re Martadinata Street.
This activity has been held for the last ten years. It was attended by over
500 people. Made said that there are 400 Hindu families in Balikpapan
comprising 1,600 souls. The festivity went from 7 to 10 pm and featured
dances from around the country. It closed with a Bondres mask dance, which
is a humorous Balinese dance depicting funny folk stories.
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, May 14, 2014 (The Republic): When yellow-robed priests
pulled back the burgundy curtain of a shrine inside the Hindu Temple and
Cultural Center in Bothell, more than a thousand people who had squeezed
into the smoke-filled building let out tears and gasps of joy. It was the
crowd's first glimpse of not just the temple's first formally consecrated
statue, but the nation's first formally consecrated Hindu temple shrine in
the Pacific Northwest.
Indian craftsmen called shilpis, descended from generations of other temple
craftsmen, had spent six months molding the statue's shrine. The Deity
itself was hand-sculpted in India out of black granite. Finally, after
three days of rituals last weekend called Kumbabhishekam, the Deity
Prasanna Venkateshwara was brought to life. Related to Vishnu, preserver of
life in the universe, the Deity will play a key role in formal rituals
performed at the shrine.
"This is a 27-year-old dream come true," said Mani Vadari,
chairman of the HTCC's board, who first worshipped with other Hindus in
church basements, rented spaces and homes when he came to the Seattle area
in the 1980s. The group he worshipped with then consisted of fewer than 100
families. Today, that number has ballooned, largely due to an influx of
Indian software engineers who have immigrated to the area. From 2000 to
2012, U.S. Census data show the Indian population in King, Snohomish and
Pierce counties of Washington State nearly tripled from about 20,000 to
59,000.
He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this
world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That.
-- Atharva Veda, Kaivalya Upanishad
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, May 12, 2014 (NDTV): Ahead of the ensuing annual Rath
Yatra festival, the Jagannath Temple managing committee today asked the
Odisha government to stop the practice of devotees climbing atop chariots
and touching the Lord.
Puri King Gajapati King Divyasingha Deb, who headed the committee, said
this while presiding over a meeting of religious heads who supported Puri
Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati's view of climbing atop chariots and
touching the Lord as a 'sin'. Hindu pundits from different matts and sects
also supported the Puri seer and opined that climbing the chariots was against
Hindu religion as well as scriptures.
The issue was discussed in detail as Daitapati priests, who play a
significant role during the Rath Yatra, opposed Shankaracharya's view. The
priests claim that the devotees should not be prevented from climbing the
chariots and touching the Lord because the tradition has been followed for
generations.
CAMBODIA, May 15, 2014 (by Laignee Barron, Phnom Penh Post): Buoyed by a
series of recent antiquity return agreements, Cambodia hoped it would soon
restore the full panoply of statues looted from a 10th-century temple north
of Angkor Wat. But an Ohio art museum announced yesterday that a sculpture
it houses will not be making the return trip just yet.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper yesterday reported that the Cleveland
Museum of Art contests Cambodia's claim that the kneeling Hindu Monkey God
was pillaged from the Prasat Chen temple. According to the newspaper, the
museum sent one of its curators to Cambodia last winter to investigate the
origins of the Hanuman statue. Equipped with a replica of the statue, the
art historian could not make a match with any of the temple's empty
pedestals. Cambodian officials said they were not aware the museum had
conducted the investigation.
"It's surprising they would say it's not from there. We're sure this
Hanuman is from the Koh Ker complex," Ministry of Culture and Fine
Arts heritage director Hab Touch said. Archaeologists from the French School
of Asian Studies helped the government identify the looted statues of
Prasat Chen using tableaus of the full scene of the temple as well as of
the nearby Banteay Srei temple. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation
Center of Cambodia, said the investigation is a "politically and
strategically motivated" defense, not a search for truth. He added
that the Cambodian government needs to hire an independent expert to
examine all evidence.
With six of the temple's nine statues on the way back to the Kingdom, the
National Museum is preparing a special exhibition to open in June,
including two pieces returned by the New York Metropolitan a year ago, one
returned from Sotheby's, one from Christie's and one from the Norton Simon
Museum. Meanwhile, the Denver Art Museum, which houses the Rama statue that
Cambodian experts allege was also looted from Prasat Chen, said it is
"committed to further research regarding [the] history and
provenance" of its artefact.
CAMBODIA, May 15, 2014 (by Laignee Barron, Phnom Penh Post): Buoyed by a
series of recent antiquity return agreements, Cambodia hoped it would soon
restore the full panoply of statues looted from a 10th-century temple north
of Angkor Wat. But an Ohio art museum announced yesterday that a sculpture
it houses will not be making the return trip just yet.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper yesterday reported that the Cleveland
Museum of Art contests Cambodia's claim that the kneeling Hindu Monkey God
was pillaged from the Prasat Chen temple. According to the newspaper, the
museum sent one of its curators to Cambodia last winter to investigate the
origins of the Hanuman statue. Equipped with a replica of the statue, the
art historian could not make a match with any of the temple's empty
pedestals. Cambodian officials said they were not aware the museum had
conducted the investigation.
"It's surprising they would say it's not from there. We're sure this
Hanuman is from the Koh Ker complex," Ministry of Culture and Fine
Arts heritage director Hab Touch said. Archaeologists from the French
School of Asian Studies helped the government identify the looted statues
of Prasat Chen using tableaus of the full scene of the temple as well as of
the nearby Banteay Srei temple. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation
Center of Cambodia, said the investigation is a "politically and
strategically motivated" defense, not a search for truth. He added
that the Cambodian government needs to hire an independent expert to
examine all evidence.
With six of the temple's nine statues on the way back to the Kingdom, the
National Museum is preparing a special exhibition to open in June,
including two pieces returned by the New York Metropolitan a year ago, one
returned from Sotheby's, one from Christie's and one from the Norton Simon
Museum. Meanwhile, the Denver Art Museum, which houses the Rama statue that
Cambodian experts allege was also looted from Prasat Chen, said it is "committed
to further research regarding [the] history and provenance" of its
artefact.
BUENOS, AIRES, May 12, 2014 (lanoticia1): Begun on May 10th, India Week
will continue until the 16th at the Municipal House of Culture in the
Amarante Brown district of the capital. A wealth of mysticism and ancient
Indian culture with the best of cinema, music, dance, literature, cuisine,
philosophy, meditation and yoga is being presented.
Daniel Bolettieri, mayor of the district, and the Indian Ambassador,
Amarendra Kathua, teamed up to produce the event in order to strengthen the
link between India and the City of Arts and Ideas. The mayor said :
"All Argentines deserve to know more about India, which is far from us
geographically but, because it has similar concerns, is close to us in our
hearts."
"India is a very important market for us. We're fostering a commercial
relationship with the intention to increase the technological and other
imports from India and increase our exports to that area of the world as
well," said Bolettieri.
When I think of myself as a body, I am your servant, my Lord; when I think
of myself as an individual soul, I am part of you; but when I realize I am
atman, you and I become one.
-- Lord Hanuman in the epic Ramayana
CAMBODIA, June 15, 2014 (Sydney Morning Herald): Archaeologists using
revolutionary airborne laser technology have discovered a lost mediaeval
city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1200 years ago. The
stunning discovery of the city, Mahendraparvata, includes temples hidden by
jungle for centuries - temples that archaeologists believe have never been
looted. Mahendraparvata existed 350 years before Angkor Wat, the Hindu
temple that has captivated interest across the world and is visited by more
than two million people each year.
An instrument called Lidar strapped to a helicopter which criss-crossed a
mountain north of the Angkor Wat complex provided data that matched years
of ground research by archaeologists. The research revealed the city that
founded the Angkor Empire in 802 ce.
The University of Sydney's archaeology research center in Cambodia brought
the Lidar instrument to Cambodia and played a key role in the discovery
that is set to revolutionize archaeology across the world.
Archaeologists and exploration and mapping experts have uncovered more than
two dozen previously unrecorded temples and evidence of ancient canals,
dykes and roads using satellite navigation co-ordinates gathered from the
instrument's data. In effect the Lidar technology peeled away the jungle
canopy using billions of laser pulses, allowing archaeologists to see for
the first time structures that were in perfect squares, completing a map of
the city which years of painstaking ground research had been unable to
achieve.
More at source, including a fabulous 10 minute video describing the
project.
CAMBODIA, November 28, 2013 (The Diplomat by Damian Evans): In June of this
year, along with sixteen of my colleagues, I published an academic paper on
the use of airborne laser scanning ("lidar") for archaeology that
made front-page news across the world [see above article]. In it, we
described how we had used lidar technology to uncover and map elements of
the medieval urban landscape around the famous temples of Angkor, in
Cambodia, that had previously been obscured by vegetation. The release of
that paper was the culmination of many years of meticulous planning and
painstaking research, but there was one thing for which we found ourselves
completely unprepared: the storm of attention devoted to something that was
almost a footnote in that paper, the discovery of the so-called "lost
city" of Mahendraparvata on a mountain plateau at the northern
periphery of Angkor.
I'd also like to think that the findings we describe in that publication
are significant - but for a totally different set of reasons than you'll
hear about in the media coverage. To begin with, we shouldn't imagine that
archaeologists have such an abundance of research funds that we would
gamble a quarter of a million dollars laser-scanning a random stretch of
forest in the hope that we might accidentally find a city lying on the
forest floor. In most areas (including Mahendraparvata, as we clearly
explained in the paper), a century or more of prior scholarship had lent
considerable weight to the theory that urban areas extended between and
beyond the well-known temples. But to know those cities by way of actually
seeing them for the first time is an entirely different thing, at least for
archaeologists, and that is why the University of Sydney brought together
and led a consortium of institutions to undertake the lidar program.
Perhaps more important than that is the fact that Cambodians and their
ancestors have been living in this part of Southeast Asia, apparently
without interruption, for thousands of years. The temple-cities of greater
Angkor are immensely important national icons, and the sense of shared
history that they underpin lies at the very heart of Cambodian nationhood.
They have never been "lost" or "abandoned" by Khmer
people, who in fact have shown a remarkable resilience in the face of
historical forces that have sometimes seemed bent on their destruction.
MAURITIUS, February 21, 2014( Le Mauricien): A Tamil-style Hindu temple was
consecrated in the precinct of the new high-security Melrose Prison in the
presence of representatives from religious bodies of surrounding villages,
members of non-governmental organizations as well as executives of the
prison. The new prison now has four places of worship, two of them Hindu,
for prisoners. The inmates are free to practice their religion and have
access to recognized representatives of their respective faiths.
According to the Commissioner of Prisons, Jean Bruneau, spiritual
well-being helps an inmate to reflect on the wrongs he has committed and
turn a page in his life. "Spirituality will also help to change his
behavior and to reconcile with himself, others and God," he says. The
Commissioner cited a wise saying of Saint Avvaiyar "Kovil ila ouril
iroukavendam" which translates as "Never live in a place where
there is no place of worship." He argues that a place of worship is a
prominent landmark where people meet, pray, socialize and can also benefit
from spiritual guides and moral values. Emphasis is also placed on how to
behave and to show respect in society as a good citizen. Spiritual well-
being brings a social reorientation and assists inmates to rediscover hope,
self-dignity, love and compassion for others. Belief in God transforms his
heart, his character and personality, which is conducive to rehabilitation.
CHICAGO, USA, May 15, 2014 (by Tim Sommers): India Unveiled's author Robert
Arnett and Editor, Smita Turakhia have done it again. The sixth edition of
the beautifully produced, multi-award winning coffee table book will be
released by Publisher Atman Press on May 22, 2014. The new volume contains
308 pages and 307 photographs reproduced on acid-free archival paper. With
an eye toward furthering understanding and neutralizing prejudice toward
differences in our society today, this updated version acknowledges India's
modernity while giving full credence and more explanation of Hinduism,
Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, the four religions that originated in
India. The book addresses topics such as the mother aspect of God, the
symbolism of murti, the symbolism of Aum, why Hindus respect cows, and the
caste system.
The book includes a timeline of India and the World, which is more in line
with archeological discoveries and India's ancient texts and history,
rather than based on colonial influenced, dated ideas about the history of
the country. From the soaring temple gates of Tamil Nadu to the delicately
carved marble temples of Jainism, to the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar, to
the spectacular arati ceremony at Hardwar, India Unveiled truly reveals the
diversity and sacredness of the oldest continuously living civilization on
earth. Indian-Americans in particular will appreciate this work, which
focuses on their rich and noble lineage. Arnett's simple style of writing
along with the captivating photographs will give all a deeper appreciation
of their heritage. India Unveiled will be the centerpiece of discussions in
many homes where there is curiosity about India and a respect for her
tradition.
Life should be dynamic, full of movement, flowing endlessly like the mighty
Ganges. Life's movement should be channelled in the right direction. Life
becomes a burden for many people because it has lost its dynamism. For them
life is not like a flowing river. It is a static, turbid puddle.Understand
that action gives movement to life, knowledge gives it direction and
devotion bestows the inspiration to life's journey.
-- Rameshbhai Oza, inspired performer of Vaishnava kathas
KOLKATA, INDIA, May 5, 2014 (Times Of India): After offering tour packages
to popular destinations like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, Indian
Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a tourist
train from Chennai to Nepal, primarily aimed at pilgrims from south India.
Those opting for this tour will be taken around Hindu and Buddhist
pilgrimage destinations in north India and Nepal.
It will be an exclusive AC tourist train for a round trip from Chennai,
covering Allahabad, Varanasi (Kasi), Ayodhya, Kathmandu, Manakamana,
Pokhara and Kushinagar. The train will start from Chennai Central on May 11
and return on May 23. The train will pass through Vijaywada and Warangal
for the benefit of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh.
The tour includes travel by the AC Tourist Train, AC hotel accommodation at
places where night stay will be required, buses for transfers and
sightseeing, on-board and off-board vegetarian catering, services of tour
escort and security. In this trip, the tourists will get an opportunity to
bathe in the Triveni Sangam (confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and
Saraswati) in Allahabad, visit the famous Vishwanath temple and Visalakshi
temple in Varanasi (Kasi), visit Pashupathinath Temple, Swayambhunath (a
Buddhist Temple) and Budha Nilkantha (Lord Vishnu) temple in Kathmandu.
BALI, INDONESIA, May 20, 2014, (by Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post):
Hindus across Bali have been preparing for Galungan since last week.
Traditional and modern markets have been flooded with people buying fruit,
flowers, banana leaves and many other items especially for Galungan. Hindus
have also begun to erect penjor, a decorated bamboo pole, in front of their
homes, which for many is the symbol of the dragon, a beautiful evocation of
wealth and prosperity.Galungan, the day to celebrate the victory of dharma
(good deeds) over adharma (bad forces), is one of the major religious
celebrations on the island and is followed 10 days later by Kuningan. On
Wednesday, Balinese Hindus will flock to major and family temples to
perform their special Galungan prayers.
The upcoming holy days start with Galungan for Hindu devotees on Wednesday
(May 21). The administration has designated three days of public holiday
for Galungan, starting today (May 20) for penampahan Galungan until
Thursday (May 22), known as manis Galungan.
The Bali Police are preparing to safeguard the island during the various
religious holidays coming up in the next two weeks. The police are also
coordinating security details with the pecalang (traditional Balinese
security guards) in customary villages. "As this is a religious
activity, we work with the pecalang. They play a major role during
Galungan," he said. As a tourism island, the police also pay attention
to security in the many tourist attractions across Bali, deploying tourist
police to ensure the island remains safe. "The police will not be on
vacation during the religious holidays," he stressed.
KERALA, INDIA, May 22, 2014 (The Hindu): Kerala police have mooted the
urgent establishment of a no-fly zone over Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple to
render the landmark shrine and its hoard of antique treasures stored in
ancient subterranean vaults "impregnable" to airborne threats.
Officials say the police have recommended that flying of kites be prohibited
in the proposed no-fly zone to prevent any attempt at kite aerial
photography, a relatively new technique of taking above the ground pictures
using remote-controlled cameras rigged to the kites.
The police have based their proposal, which in the face of it seems more
than necessary, on the possibility that non-State actors could use
jury-rigged kites for covert surveillance of the area or, in a worst case
security scenario, attempt an airborne sabotage operation on the temple's
structure. Once the proposal comes through, possibly after discussions with
and the concurrence of the Indian Air Force and civil aviation authorities,
a special zone name will be accorded for the temple area and it will be
notified on aeronautical charts so that pilots would know and identify in
advance the area over which they are not allowed to fly.
Officials say a similar no-fly zone exists over the Tirumala Venkateswara
temple in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The Taj Mahal in Agra, the Tower of
Silence in Mumbai, and Parliament House are also covered by similar zones
along with refineries, nuclear installations and other strategically
important assets.
WASHINGTON, DC, May 15, 2014 (The Washington Post): Sixty years ago this
Saturday, the United States Supreme Court found state laws imposing
segregation unconstitutional. Progress has been made, but the nation has
been slipping, according to a new report analyzing government data from
UCLA's Civil Rights Project. And the states where segregation is most prevalent
today are not the ones where it reached its boiling point in the 1950s and
1960s.
The Northeast was the only region where, on average, the share of black
students in almost completely minority schools has risen since 1968,
according to the report titled "Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long
Retreat and an Uncertain Future." More than half -- 51.4 percent -- of
black students in those states in 2011 were in schools whose student
populations were 90 percent to 100 percent minorities. In every other region
of the country -- the Midwest, West, South and "border" states --
black students today are less likely to be in heavily minority schools.
New York is one of the most segregated states for black students. It has
the highest rate of black students in high-minority schools and the lowest
rate of black exposure to white students. Illinois is second on both
measures. Maryland is third when it comes to the share of black students in
high-minority schools and fourth-lowest when it comes to black exposure to
white students. California, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas also rank highly
among the indicators suggesting high rates of segregation among blacks.
Today, a typical white student is likely to attend a school where about
three in four students is also white. That means that an average white
student looking around a typical 30-person classroom in her school will see
22 other white students, four Latinos, two blacks, an Asian and one more
who would qualify under an "other" racial category. A typical
black student today would see 15 blacks, eight whites, five Latinos, one
Asian and one student of another racial category. A typical Latino student
in a 30-person class would likely have 17 Latino classmates, eight white
ones, three black and one Asian and one other.
An Asian student is likely to have 12 white classmates, seven Asian ones,
seven Latino ones, three black ones and an "other."
INDIA, May 23, 2014 (scribd.com): Available at "source" above is
an extensive report on the 2002 Gujarat riots by French journalist Nicole
Elfi. It has been recommended by an HPI reader as the most in-depth account
available. This new URL takes you to the 2013 revision of the article.
SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY, May 13, 2014 (Hudson Reporter): A life-sized statue
of Mahatma Gandhi will be dedicated to the state at a ceremony in Secaucus
on Saturday, May 31. The statue was hand crafted in India from a single
piece of rock, and is a gift to the state of New Jersey from Secaucus
residents Shantaben, Maneklal, Raj, and Parul Patel of the Swaminarayan
Temple. The monument will be located at the entrance to the Sadhu Vaswani
Meditation Garden at the Recreation Center on Koelle Boulevard in Secaucus.
In keeping with Gandhi's teaching of Ahimsa (nonviolence), the event is
being co-sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The
dedication ceremony will be conducted by Revered Dada J.P. Vaswani, who
will deliver the keynote address following the ceremony. HSUS President and
CEO Wayne Pacelle will also speak, and the two will engage in a town
hall-style meeting with the audience.
Several state and local officials, as well as dignitaries from American and
Indian institutions across the United States, are expected to grace the
occasion. Among them is United States Congresswoman and war veteran Tulsi
Gabbard, who said, "Gandhi is the world's most famous Hindu, but the
impact that he made throughout his life spans far beyond any one sect or
religion. As just one example, he made a profound impact on Dr. [Martin
Luther] King who actually went and visited India, providing inspiration in
the civil rights movement here at home."
ITALY, May 28, 2014 (Lettera 43, summarized from the original Italian): The
8xmille (literally, "eight per thousand") initiative in Italy is
a mechanism by which the taxpayer directs a small percentage of their
income tax (0.8%) to 11 recognized religious denominations or the state.
There are check-off boxes at the bottom of the tax form to allow the
taxpayer to designate their preferred recipient. Of the funds raised by
this initiative in in 2011, 87%, US$1.4 billion. The Italian government
itself gets a major part of what remains for humanitarian work. The other
ten recognized groups (which includes the Italian Hindu Union), are
eligible to receive a portion of the remaining 8Xmille funds. This is the
first year Buddhists and Hindus are among the recipient and it is not yet
known how much each will receive.
INDIA, May 23, 2014 (Jaia Bharati): Available at "source" above
is an extensive report on the 2002 Gujarat riots by French journalist
Nicole Elfi. It has been recommended by an HPI reader as the most in-depth
account available.
By constantly repeating, "I am free, I am free," a man verily
becomes free. On the other hand, by constantly repeating, "I am bound,
I am bound," he certainly becomes bound. The fool who says only,
"I am a sinner, I am a sinner," verily drowns himself in
worldliness. One should rather say: "I praise the name of God. How can
I be a sinner? How can I be bound?"
-- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886)
BANGALORE, INDIA, May 17, 2014 (New Indian Express): The Banashankari
temple on Kanakapura Road is the richest among all temples administered by
the government in Bangalore. The Anjaneya (Hanuman) temple in Mahalakshmi
Layout and the Dodda Ganapathi temple on Bull Temple Road are the other two
big revenue earners in Bangalore.
Together, the three temples earn an annual income of US$1.15 million. This
includes donations, offerings and hundi collections, but excludes what
devotees put into the arati plate. All the three temples are managed by the
Endowment Department of the Karnataka government.
Bangalore Urban district has 985 temples while Bangalore city, with about
60 temples, earned $2.7 million in 2013-14. In addition to their annual
earnings, the temples accumulate assets in the form of gold and silver
ornaments and decorative items, now being assessed and valued by the
department. Till date, about 50 per cent of the valuation has been
completed and it may take two more months for a comprehensive assessment,
an official said.
Jayaprakash, Assistant Commissioner, Muzrai Department, said, "The
Banashankari temple alone holds gold and silver jewelery worth about $767
thousand, while the Jayanagar Ganesha temple holds jewels worth more than
$511 thousand. We are now building a complete data bank with photos and
videos of jewels with details of their weight, size, and purity."
WYEBANK, SOUTH AFRICA, February 5, 2014 (Highway Mail): After months of
construction, the Wyebank Hindu Temple is finally at a stage where devotees
can worship again, starting February 5th. According to Venessa Pillay, a
committee member at the temple, the Wyebank Hindu Temple was small, and as
the congregation grew the committee decided to renovate it to leave a
landmark and place of worship for the future generation.
The Wyebank Hindu Temple was established in 1932. Over the years, numerous
changes were made to enhance the general appearance, as well as install
murthis to cater for the spiritual needs of all those devotees that attend
the Shri Vilvanatha Esperar Alayam. Instead of demolishing parts of the
temple structure and adding bit and pieces, it was decided to upgrade the
entire structure. The mammoth project of rebuilding the Wyebank Hindu
Temple commenced and earnest and skilled artisans from South India were engaged
to commence with the rebuilding of the temple.
Guru Shiyamsunthar Sharma and committee members thanked the community,
individuals, organisations and families who have contributed in cash and
kind to the rebuilding of the temple.
NEW YORK, U.S., May 1, 2014 (Odisha Sun times): Ever wondered why most
Britishers could not pronounce the Sanskrit word "sri" - a common
Indian honorific for males - and instead settled for "shri," a
combination of sounds found in English words like shriek and shred? This is
because the brain does not work like a computer when it comes to
recognizing speech sounds, rather it decides whether or not a combination
can be permitted based on words that are already known, a fascinating study
has said. Words that begin with the sounds "sr-" are not found in
the English language.
"Our findings have implications for the idea that the brain acts as a
computer, which would mean that it uses rules - the equivalent of software
commands - to manipulate information," said David Gow, a clinical
instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School. "Instead it looks
like at least some of the processes that cognitive psychologists and
linguists have historically attributed to the application of rules may
instead emerge from the association of speech sounds with words we already
know," he explained.
Human beings speak more than 6,000 distinct language, and each language
allows some ways to combine speech sounds into sequences but prohibits
others. Although individuals are not usually conscious of these
restrictions, native speakers have a strong sense of whether or not a
combination is acceptable.
You shine, all living things emerge. You disappear, they go to rest.
Recognizing our innocence, O golden-haired Sun, arise; let each day be
better than the last. Rig Veda (X, 37, 9)
MOMBASA, KENYA, May 16, 2014 (Coastweek): The pioneering Indian Dukawalla
or shopkeeper introduced the use of money to buy goods in Eastern Africa.
Thus he launched the monetary economy in this part of the world, writes Kul
Bhushan. The Duka, derived from the Hindustani word Dukan, was set up in
the remote locations after the British built the Uganda Railway at the end
of the 19the century.
Housed behind the Duka, the hardy Dukawalla faced wild animals at night,
hot sun during the day and isolation from his relatives and friends but he
persisted and survived. Over time, he built a stone structure and then
enlarged the building as his business flourished. More traders came and the
sole Duka multiplied into many more and their location became a
mini-township with administrative services moving in.
All over Eastern Africa, these Duka's can still be seen in isolated
locations and observe them as foundations of every town and city as the
bazaar created by these Dukas. The Dukawala's have, in no small measure,
played an important role, in the economic growth of Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania: and also Zambia and Malawi. The story of Dukawalla is the heroic
story of hard work, persistence and survival against massive odds.
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, May 9, 2014 (Times Of India): Thousands of significant
Sanskrit and Hindi manuscripts written on palm leaves kept in University of
the Punjab in Lahore and University of Dhaka will soon be digitized by
Government of India.
Director of National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) Prafulla Mishra said NMM
will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran Culture House
(ICH), New Delhi, for the digitization work. ICH has already been
digitizing Persian and Arabian manuscripts in Lahore and Dhaka.
Mishra said there were around 9,500 Sanskrit and Hindi manuscripts in
Punjab University, the largest and oldest seat of higher learning in
Pakistan established in 1882. The collection includes around 2,000 palm
leaf writings. Besides Hindi and Sanskrit, the stock includes texts in
Prakrit, Telugu, Sharada, Tamil, and Nandinagari languages. The over
90-year-old Dhaka University has over 10,000 such texts. Some of these
scripts are over 1,000-year-old while many others are of pre-independence
era, Mishra said.
One day three wise, blind elephants were discussing what humans were like.
Failing to agree, they decided to determine what humans were like by direct
experience. The first blind elephant felt the human and declared,
"Humans are flat." The other blind elephants tested and said,
"We agree."
He who befriends a man whose conduct is vicious, whose vision impure, and
who is notoriously crooked, is rapidly ruined.
-- Chanakya (350-275 bce), Indian politician, strategist and writer
CAMBODIA, May 29, 2014 (Phnom Penh Post): Sandstone figures packed into
crates returned to Cambodia yesterday.The Kingdom welcomed the repatriated
11th-century statues with little fanfare, a remarkably placid homecoming
given the lengthy legal battle with auction house Sotheby's and the
enlivened conversation with a California art museum that led to their
return.
"They are Duryodhana and Bhima. One from Sotheby's and another from
Norton Simon. They will be transferred first to the Council of Ministers
for official reception on June 3 and then transferred to the National
Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, for restoration and exhibition to [the]
public," National Museum director Kong Vireak said. The Duryodhana and
the Bhima, which depict opposing Hindu warrior figures that were locked in
a mythic battle, were displayed at the Prasat Chen Temple in Siem Reap
before being hacked from their pedestals and moved through the antiquities
black market in the 1970s.
Over the past three years, Cambodian officials and art researchers have
traced seven of the Prasat Chen's nine statues to collections in the US.
Last year, the Metropolitan Museum in New York agreed to return two statues
pillaged from the temple, the first time a museum collection has
voluntarily returned antiquities. At the end of last year, Sotheby's
settled an embittered court case, agreeing to pay for the repatriation of a
third statue. The Norton Simon Museum in California pitched in a fourth
statue, the Bhima, and earlier this month Christie's announced it too would
give back a Prasat Chen figure, which is set to return today, according to
a government spokesman.
The Denver Art Museum has been quiet about a statue that Cambodian
officials claim it holds, and the Cleveland Museum of Art has questioned
the provenance claim of the Cambodian Hindu monkey God statue they
currently have on exhibit, stating the museum as of yet has no plans to
return the figure.
MAHARASTRA, INDIA, May 23, 2014 (The Hindu, by Amruta Byatnal): TThe temple
administration of this 900 year old temple has interviewed women and those
from outside the Brahmin community for appointing them as priests. The
Vitthal Rukmini Temple Trust (VRTT), which functions under the Maharashtra
government, has made the radical move possible. "For the first time, a
temple is throwing open its doors to everyone. We thought it was time now
for us to set an example. No group should claim monopoly for serving as
priests in the temple," Anna Dange, chairman of the trust, told The
Hindu. "Thousands of people converge here every year. People love
Vitthoba and Rakhumai [as lord Vitthal and his consort Rukmini are called
locally]. The Gods did not discriminate between people; it's time we
followed suit."
Priesthood of the temple was under the monopoly of the Barve-Utpat families
of Pandharpur, which claimed ancestral rights over the institution. The two
families used to auction the puja every day. The families paid the auction
amount to the trust and kept the donations themselves. A Supreme Court
ruling in January stripped the families of the right to appoint priests and
keep the donations. The VRTT received 199 applications, 23 from women, for
the position of priests. "Eventually 129 people attended the
interviews, including 16 women," Sanjay Teli of the trust said.
Applications were received from Dalits and Marathas. The trust will make
its decision public on June 9.
Urmila Bhate (52), one of the women interviewed, stated that the opportunity
to be a priest was a dream come true. "I have grown up in Pandharpur,
and I thought this day would never come," she said, speaking of the
chance to "serve Rakhu, mother God." Ms Bhate's family has been
involved in the temple's activities. "I have watched my brothers
perform the puja and I am well versed with the tradition of the temple. It
is high time, that women who are equally devoted to Lord Vitthal and
Rakhumai, are considered equal to male priests," she stated.
UNITED STATES, May 30, 2014 (Pew Research): A Pew Research chart of the
foreign-born population of the United States as of 2012, lists India in the
number two position, behind Mexico, with 1,974,305. This represents 4.8
percent of the foreign-born population. Other countries that may interest
readers are:
When the Creator dances, the worlds He created dance. To the measure that
He dances in our knowledge, our thoughts, too, dance. When He in
heart-endearing dances, the several elements, too, dance. Witness in
rapture surpassing the dance of that One who is a glowing flame.
-- Tirumantiram, 2786
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, May 22, 2014 (Telegraph India): An expert team of the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) today inspected the 12th century
Jagannath temple in Puri to find out whether the earthquake that hit the
state yesterday had any impact on the temple. The team visited the temple
following a magnitude 5.9 earthquake centered 274 km SE of Konarka, India.
Temple administration sources said a team of engineers, led by the deputy
archaeological superintending engineer Tapan Bhattacharya, today inspected
the temple. "Keeping in mind the vast structure of the temple, it is
difficult to find out minor cracks suddenly and the loosening of plasters
of the structures at various points. However, the temple is safe at this
moment," said a senior official.
According to the ASI report, the structure is standing on the southeast
direction from the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) of the main Jagannath
temple in which direction a fault line is suspected as several structures
were affected in this direction during earlier earthquakes. "It is
advisable to regularly monitor and check for any sign of distress on the
temple structure," the report said.
MADURAI, INDIA, May 25, 2014 (Times Of India): The frescoes on the roof of
Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and the kolams (rangoli) patterns on the
floor are outstanding works of art. The kolams, drawn by connecting
hundreds of thousands of dots, are obviously the outcome of strenuous
efforts. Now, efforts are being taken to preserve and repaint the kolams.
A grand kolam connected by a hundred thousand dots is in the corridor near
the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Sundareswarar. It was drawn by a group of
women about 35 years ago to keep the tradition alive and also as a form of
penance. Family members of the original artists are now repainting them and
are expected to complete the exercise in a day or two.
Painting of kolams in the temple was started by Lalitha Sankar. She had
learned its intricacies from S. V. Thambirasu, a master kolam artist.
Lalitha used to draw beautiful kolams on the floor of the temple way back
in 1979. Subsequently, a small group of women trained by her managed to
draw one hundred thousand kolams in the temple corridors. They were
repainted from time to time. Now, Lalitha's daughters-in-law have taken up
the task. They first draw the design with chalk and then paint over it.
They are guided by older women adept in the art.
Drawing of kolams is an integral part of Indian culture. It is believed
kolams bring prosperity to homes. It is also said the wellbeing of the
artist is enhanced when one bends to draw the designs early in the morning.
UNITED KINGDOM, May 24, 2014 (BBC, By Tom Shakespeare): More and more
people are rejecting religion but embracing spirituality. But have they got
things the wrong way around, asks Tom Shakespeare. After a relationship
break up a few years ago, I signed on to a dating website. Filling in my
online profile, I was interested to discover that the question on religious
belief included an option that was new to me. You could tick boxes for the major
religions, or for atheist, or for SBNR, which I discovered stands for
"Spiritual But Not Religious". Whereas the word
"religion" generally refers to organized forms of worship and a
wider faith community, "spiritual" often describes people's
private individual beliefs.
A few minutes on Google revealed that SBNR is more than just an acronym.
One in three Americans defined themselves as spiritual but not religious.
Millions of people now think of themselves as on their own personal
spiritual path, but not affiliated to any specific religion. American
sociologists Robert Putnam and David Campbell talk about "Nones"
- people who belong to no religion but still believe in God. Others have
used the term "moralistic therapeutic deism" to refer to how
young people are turning towards a vague belief that God exists and the
point of life is to be happy. You could also call it
"pseudo-religion".
The people who tick the SBNR box are distinguishing themselves from
atheism. They would probably believe in some supreme being or higher power.
Perhaps they're interested in Eastern spirituality or some eclectic mixture
of ideas. SBNR reflects a rejection of the dogmas of organized religion.
People might say, "I am not interested in organized religion, but I do
have room in my life for spirituality." They have a sense that there
is something "above and beyond" the everyday.
The word "religion" is thought to derive from Latin
"religare", to bind or connect. I think that sense of a
connection is the key point. Religion offers a bond between individuals and
it helps them form a connection to the wider universe. Without religion,
the danger is that an individual thinks that he or she is the centre of the
universe. Religion asks more of you than just to look after yourself. Because
religion is a collective practice, it enables us to learn from others
around us, and from a history of sincere and disciplined examination of the
problems of life - a history which is sometimes called the Wisdom
Traditions. Through reflection and discussion in the context of religion,
we can achieve discernment, which means seeing reality more clearly.
If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living
men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream
of existence, it is India.
-- French scholar Romain Rolland
CALIFORNIA, U.S., May 6, 2014 (University of Southern California): In the
lush, verdant hills of India, Bhagavan Kani rises from his bed. He spends a
few serene moments gazing at the early morning sun as it crests the
horizon, sipping water infused with a local spice leaf called tulsi. Kani
eats a simple breakfast of raw vegetables and fruits. Barefoot, he sweeps
the leaves from a dirt path in his garden and climbs steep stone steps to
take a stroll through the hilly village. Later that day, he sits outside
his coconut-leaf-thatched hut, recites tribal songs and talks to plants and
animals.
It's a quiet existence that normally wouldn't garner much attention. But
Murali Nair, a clinical professor at the USC School of Social Work, is
fascinated for one simple reason -- the man is more than 100 years old.
"People are definitely living longer," Nair said. "I'm not
saying that medical advances have nothing to do with it, but there are
other reasons. There must be something beyond their genes, maybe something
we can document."
Through interviews and visits with dozens of centenarians around the world,
Nair is exploring lifestyle factors that may influence health and promote
longevity. He has identified 11 attributes shared by all his study
subjects, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Nair is hopeful
that his findings will bring legitimacy to practices that are often
overlooked and sometimes scorned by the health care establishment, such as
spiritual rituals, a positive outlook on life and various traditional
healing practices.
"They have a general air of optimism and positivity and try to instill
that attitude in others around them," Nair said. "They engage in
physical and mental activity on a daily basis, often cleaning, walking,
gardening, cooking, reading, writing and memorizing passages of poetry,
stories and life events. Learning never ends for them. They always hang
around with people much younger than them. Even with a child, they find
something to talk about."
Many of the centenarians he has met practice careful eating habits; most
are vegetarians who consume fresh vegetables and fruits, spices and herbs
in small but regular quantities. Physical and mental activities and
practices such as bathing in cold water and watching the sunrise in the
early morning are common.
SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, May 22, 2014 (Thousand Oaks Acorn): The Hindu
Educational Foundation's Los Angeles chapter presented a Teachers
Appreciation Day on May 10 in Simi Valley. Teachers from the Simi Valley,
Moorpark, Conejo Valley and Oak Park school districts were recognized
during the event. Around 100 participants attended. Students presented a
mosaic of cultural programs with elements from Indian classical dance,
martial arts, folk dances and yoga. Students also offered thanks to their
teachers and presented flowers and a book on yoga.
This year, the HEF LA chapter joined with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh to
honor teachers. The event began with the traditional lighting of the lamp
by Dr. Amrit Ram, an assistant professor in the life sciences division at
the SVYASA Yoga University. Ram presented a demonstration of yogic posture
and breathing pattern for replacing anger and fatigue. He also showed how
the different hand and body postures of yoga are translated into Hindu
classical dancing.
The Hindu Educational Foundation, an educational project by Hindus in the
USA, strives to replace various misconceptions with correct representation
of India and Hindu Dharma. HEF believes that right understanding of any
faith, including that of Hindu Dharma, would lead to peace and harmony as
well as preservation and nurturing of religious diversity. Hindu
Swayamsevak Sangh USA is a voluntary, nonprofit, social and cultural
organization. Sangh, as the organization is known, aims to organize the
Hindu community in order to preserve, practice and promote Hindu ideals and
values.
Take up one idea and make that your life-- think of it, dream of it, live
on it. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of
that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to
success. One single soul with good motives, sincerity and infinite love can
destroy the dark designs of millions of hypocrites and brutes.
-- Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, May 25, 2014 (The Hindu): Sri Durga
Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam owns more than 100 kg gold and nearly one
and half tons silver. The Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam has
gold ornaments and jewelry weighing 55 kg. In addition it has gold reserves
with the State Bank of India (SBI). With a wish to convert this
"idle" gold into a perennial source of income coupled with
security reasons, the temple deposited gold weighing 55.382 kg with the SBI
under Gold Bond Scheme, source say. The temple authorities say that their
efforts in converting "dead assets" has started yielding results.
The temple is receiving an interest of US$8,560 on the gold deposited with
the bank, they say.
The temple also received silver ornaments, etc., weighing 1,476 kg. The
temple authorities sometime ago converted the gold ornaments presented by
the devotees into pure gold, 24 carat. The ornaments that have either
broken, less in quality wise, or cannot be used regularly were taken to Mumbai.
The purity of those ornaments ranged between 18 carat to 22 carat, sources
say.
The devotees have been presenting various gifts to the goddess. Some time
ago, city based industrialists Kankanala Ramesh and Koganti Satyam
presented a golden veena worth about $67,000 to the temple. About 2 kg of
gold was used in the making of the Veena. The veena is being used for
Saraswati Alankaram on Moola Nakshatram during Dasara.
The Kanaka Durga temple hundi collections touched new heights and surpassed
its own records. The temple received an income of $1.7 million during first
half of 2013.
WASHINGTON, DC, May 22, 2014 (Hindu American Foundation) An estimated 1,000
Christian and Hindu girls are abducted every year in Pakistan, as reported
by the Hindu American Foundation's (HAF) tenth annual human rights report,
released today. Their stories, unfortunately, have largely gone unnoticed
by the international community. "Similar to the plight of the 200
girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria, girls and women from Pakistan's
religious minority communities are under constant threat of kidnapping, forced
conversions to Islam, and either being married off to older Muslim men or
being sold into the sex trade," said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF's
Director/Senior Human Rights Fellow and author of the report.
Kalra added, "Given the prevalence of such incidents, the U.S.
Department of State must change its policy towards Pakistan and designate
it as a 'Country of Particular Concern' for its ongoing and egregious
violations of religious freedom. A CPC designation is necessary and will
help expedite long-overdue reforms, while furthering our national interests
in promoting secular democracy and moderate forces in Pakistan."
Abductions and forced conversions were among several issues covered in the
Foundation's latest report, entitled Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora:
A Survey of Human Rights 2013. The report documented the challenges facing
Hindus and other similarly situated minorities in ten countries/regions
around the world within the context of domestic legal frameworks and
international human rights law.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Pakistan, in particular, were
censured as Egregious Violators for either engaging in or allowing rampant
and systematic human rights violations to take place against their minority
populations. The report also detailed conditions in Bhutan, the Indian
State of Jammu and Kashmir, and Sri Lanka, which were designated as
Countries of Serious Concern, as well as those labelled as Monitored
Countries, including Fiji, Saudi Arabia, and Trinidad and Tobago. It
further highlighted HAF's on-the-ground fact-finding missions and direct
relief projects with refugee populations.
"From discriminatory constitutional injunctions and laws, to
widespread restrictions on religious freedom, to violence and
discrimination, the human rights and fundamental civil liberties of
religious minorities are coming under increasing attack from both state and
non-state actors in many of these countries," said Kalra. "It is
imperative that the international community and the U.S. urgently address this
unrestrained denial of basic human rights."
Life is meant for God-realization. If you die without attaining
God-realization, your life is in vain. Even having one hundred gurus will
not help, unless the disciple has a great desire for liberation and tries
to get rid of all that stands in the way.
-- Swami Chidananda (1916-2008), President of Divine Life Society
INDIA, June 7, 2014( by Amitrav Ranjan, Indian Express): As a first step to
fast-tracking development high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda,
the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has submitted a classified document
identifying several foreign-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
that are "negatively impacting economic development". "A significant
number of Indian NGOs (funded by some donors based in the US, the UK,
Germany, The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries) have been noticed to
be using people-centric issues to create an environment which lends itself
to stalling development projects," says the IB report marked to the
Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
"The negative impact on GDP growth is assessed to be 2-3 per cent per
annum," says the June 3 report, identifying seven sectors/ projects
that got stalled because of NGO-created agitations against nuclear power
plants, uranium mines, coal-fired power plants, farm biotechnology, mega
industrial projects, hydroelectric plants and extractive industries. While
detailing what it calls "anti-development" activities by the NGOs
during 2011-13, the 21-page report highlights their plans for 2014 and the
areas that would come under pressure.
The report says that while caste discrimination, human rights and big dams
were earlier chosen by international organisations to discredit India at
global forums, the recent shift in the choice of issues was to encourage
"growth-retarding campaigns" focused on extractive industries,
genetically-modified organisms and foods, climate change and anti-nuclear
issues. According to the report, the funding for such campaigns came from
foreign donors under charitable garb for issues ranging from protection of
human rights, violence against women, caste discrimination, religious
freedom, etc., or to provide a "just deal" to the
project-affected displaced persons or for protection of livelihood of
indigenous people.
Wealth and happiness are not related to each other as cause and effect. An
attempt to secure happiness by securing wealth is as futile as it is
absurd.
-- Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal(1912-1954), 34th
pontiff of the Sarada Peetham
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, June 6, 2014 (Star-Telegram): For five days and nights
they have prayed, burned wood and incense, and offered fruits and melons,
part of the Maha Kumbhabhishekam rituals in which several granite statues
are prepared to be consecrated as living vessels. The ceremonies will
culminate Saturday with the opening of the new Hindu Temple of Greater Fort
Worth.
"This is a consecration ceremony to start the new temple," said
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami (publisher of Hinduism Today and HPI), who
came from the Kauai Hindu Monastery in Hawaii to help with the temple's
opening. Rituals have been conducted since Tuesday outside the
12,500-square-foot temple and community center building on the 7-acre
campus on Longvue Avenue in far west Fort Worth. The temple's priest, Sri
Murali Krishna, and visiting holy men have presided over the ceremonies,
which are leading up to the installation of the statues in the almost $3
million temple's 5,000-square-foot sanctum sanctorum.
"On Saturday, they'll pour the [holy water] on the statues to bring
them to life, infusing them with life," Veylanswami said. Swami Chidananda,
who came from Mumbai, India, to be part of the ceremony, said the statues
will be treated like people. "We look at the statues thereafter as
being alive and vibrant," Chidananda said. "We give them food,
bathe them and dress them."
Veylanswami's associate from the Kauai monastery, Sannyasin
Senthilnathaswami, explained that the statues are not the focus of worship,
but the focal points through which worship is channeled. "You don't
worship a statue. You worship God through a statue," Senthilnathaswami
said. "Think of a telephone. When you talk into one, you aren't
talking to the telephone, you're talking to someone else through the
telephone."
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Om Tat Sat (Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
ji, Satguru Bodhianatha Velayanswami ji, Hinduism
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