A Hindu temple opened amidst the picturesque area of the East Village in New York City. This temple is operated by the Vishwa Dharma Mandalam, funded by His Holiness Swami Ramakrishnananda. This magnificent temple is attended by expert pujaris and the disciples of Swami Ramakrishnananda. The Mandir was opened in 96 Avenue B, (Btwn. 6 and 7 Sts.), for the purpose of serving the Hindu community. Pujas and vedic ceremonies are performed daily, and the hindu holidays are celebrated in a classical way, as well as Satsangs and classes given personally by Swami Ramakrishnananda. Numerous members of the Hindu community expressed their greetings and well-wishes for the opening of the Mandir. The public that follows Santana-Dharma enthusiastically attend the daily ceremonies. There are free lectures, classes about Hinduism, Ayurveda, classical Hindu music, Vedanata, and hatha yoga classes.           http://www.ramakrishnananda.com/

Yoga at school causes stress among some

over yoga in  schools goes beyond New York.
Yoga instructor Tara Guber of Los

Angeles, Calif., seen here with

staff demonstrating a session,

created a program for a public

school in Colorado.

Why I am proud to be a Hindu

By Ram Chandra

When Swami Vivekananda quoted the great Sanskrit shloka in the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago, he underlined this great appreciation of Hindutva that all paths ultimately lead to the ‘One’.

The Hindu ideology of universal egalitarianism i.e. belief in inherent equality of all creations, leave aside merely amongst human beings, is put at its best in ‘Gita’.

The legend that was Ramana Maharshi

Though a number of biographies are available on this personality of

Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai and who became a sage at the age of 16,

spending the rest of his life at

the feet of this mountain. In this book, the author has focused not on the biography of the saint but on the

practical aspects of Ramana’s basic spiritual outlook...

HP constitutes Temple Committee

Shimla, Jul 4 : The Himachal Pradesh Government has constituted a High Power Temple Committee to oversee the management of the religious shrines in the state and to suggest necessary amendment in the Acts and Rules of the state Hindu Public Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984.

Obama's Inaugural Gesture to Hindu America

The One" is now President and has already done one nice thing no President apparently did before. The newest of messiahs has acknowledged the oldest of religions. He mentioned Christians, Muslims, Jews, and non-believers. And he mentioned Hindus. Those are the words on the front page of today's Times of India, here.

Obama seeks light and knowledge from Diwali

WASHINGTON: In an expansive gesture to Indians worldwide as much as to showcase his – and America’s multi-cultural affections, US President

Barack Obama on Wednesday lit a ceremonial Diwali lamp at the White House to ''symbolize victory of light over darkness.'' (Watch Video)

Sand Sculpture Tribute to Lord Jagannath and Puri Rath Yatra

The world famous sand artist from Orissa, Sudarsan Pattnaik, paid tribute to Lord Jagannath and Puri Rath Yatra 2008 by creating a five ft high sand sculpture on Puri Beach and the theme was religious harmony. On the Puri Rath Yatra day, the three chariots are surrounded by people of all religion, caste, class and creed and all get equal opportunity to the divine darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.

The sculpture had an image of a chariot and an image of Lord Jagannath surrounded by devotees belonging to all religions.

‘Rath Yatra is an occasion when devotees, irrespective of religion, caste, class and creed get an opportunity to see the presiding deities. Devotees even touch and pull the chariots. Through my art, I want to spread the message of universal brotherhood that how Lord Jagannath clinches people from all religions on a single day and occasion,’ said Sudarsan Pattnaik to Kalinga Times.

Protests In Pakistan Against Dam Project Endangering Hindu Temple

QUETTA, PAKISTAN, June 29, 2008: Protesters demanded the federal government cancel construction plans for a dam on Hangol River in order to avoid damage to a historical Hindu temple.

Balochistan Minister for Irrigation and Power Sardar Muhammad Aslam Bizenjo, along with several other provincial ministers, moved a joint resolution against construction of the dam.

The location of the dam concurs with the historical Hinglaj Mata temple, a shrine visited by tens of thousands of local and foreign Hindus annually. The temple is also the venue for a grand annual religious festival held every April. The resolution said that if the government continued with the project, the temple was likely to be inundated with water and all roads leading to it getting completely closed. "We request the government to respect the sentiments of our fellow Hindu brothers. If the temple is damaged, Pakistan's image on the global front would suffer and the Hindus living all across the world would be upset. We request the protection of the Hinglaj Mata temple," demanded the resolution. The dam also faces opposition from environmentalists.

Downing Street holds first Diwali celebrations

(AFP) – 6 days ago

first Diwali celebration.

Brown also lit candles at the event attended by prominent members of Britain's Hindu and Sikh communities.

Brown told the gathering it was "a great day for Downing Street".

"For centuries Diwali has been celebrated," he said.

"This is the first time we have had such a celebration here in Downing Street."

Two years ago the prime minister took the name Govardhan Brown, during a Diwali ceremony.

The festival of light celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, is becoming more widely marked in Britain. Indians make up the largest proportion of people of South Asian origin.

In the last census in 2001, 1.1 million people, or 1.8 percent of the population, said they were of Indian ethnic origin. Some 559,000 said they were Hindus, while 336,000 said they were Sikhs.