The Hindu Story of Creation: Which One?

Host Morgan Freeman searches for the stories of creation as part of his understanding of God and spiritual practices from various religions around the world, in the upcoming episode of “The Story of God,” airing Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, on the National Geographic Channel. His guide in India, scholar Binda Paranjpe, explains something that most people don’t realize: Hindus don’t have a single story of creation… There is no single scripture that starts with “In the Beginning,” Read more [...]

Are We A Hindu Rashtra?

Are We A Hindu Rashtra? By Samuel Dhar 16 April, 2016Countercurrents.org Hinduism is not a religion. For that matter neither are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkhism and so on. These are all COMMUNITIES. Literal meaning of the Word, 'Hindu', coined by the Persians of the 7th century, is ‘universal’. By this definition, most of us who firmly believe in one Universal Read more [...]

Does unique geology make Hindu sacred sites marvellous?

By Pallava Bagla NEW DELHI: What makes the Kailash Parbat, the Ram Setu and the Kedarnath temple such hallowed places? Scientists, believe it is the unique geological locations where they are situated that makes them stunning and worthy of veneration. Kailash Parbat made of shale rocks resembles a Shiva Lingam; Ram Setu connects India to Sri Lanka and visible from space is a unique set of coral islands; while Kedarnath temple that withstood the 2013 flash floods sits on an unstable glacial moraine, Read more [...]

How Hindus Celebrate the New Year

A look at how different Hindu groups celebrate the New Year. Many people follow the Gregorian calendar and celebrate the New Year each January 1st. However, Hindus have a different method of welcoming the New Year. There are various Hindu traditions in different regions in India that dictate the type of festival that is celebrated to welcome the New Year. According to the Hindu calendar, the New Year is celebrated in line with the solar and lunar system. The New Year celebrations in India are Read more [...]

Flavors of Hinduism in Malaysia

Thaipusam, a colourful annual religious festivalImage source: www.telegraph.co.uk By Annesha Das GuptaAs history progressed, it has brought along with itself the sporadic expansion of Hinduism and its ethnic originals from India. Among the many countries it covered, one of the oldest affiliations has been with the terrains of Malaysia.A country divided into two-halves, the Malaysian Borneo and the Malaysian Peninsula, with South China Sea filling up the gap, the regions boast of multi-cultural and Read more [...]

1000 year old Hindu ‘Shiva linga’ unearthed

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT - An ancient Hindu phallic symbol believed to be more than 1,000 years old has been found at a local temple in Tha Sala district. A ‘shiva linga’ with flowers carved in relief on its base was discovered at Wat Nang Tra in Tha Sala district of Nakhon Si Thammarat on Wednesday. Nutjaree Rakrun Anat Bamrungwong, director of 14th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Sithammarat, said Thursday the shiva linga or Hindu phallic symbol is believed Read more [...]

Kashmiri Pandits pitch for reopening of ‘seat of learning’ in PoK for them

Srinagar: A representative body of displaced Kashmiri Pandits has asked Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, to push for reopening of Sharda Peeth, a revered place of Kashmiri Hindus in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), for pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir and beyond. “While she has been bating for enhancing tourism between India and Pakistan through Jammu-Sialkot route she should not forget that Kashmiri Pandits have been denied the right to travel to PoK for pilgrimage to ancient and historic Sharda Read more [...]

Battle of Asal Uttar: When The Indian Army Destroyed 165 Pakistani Tanks In 48 Hours during 1965 war

Asal Uttar is a village of memorials. There are all sorts — big ones, small, by the roadside, in the fields. These, apart from the occasional dilapidated bunker, are probably the only signs that Asal Uttar, a village 12 km from the international border with Pakistan in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, was the battlefield where Indian and Pakistani armies fought one of the fiercest tank battles of the 1965 war. This is where Pakistan’s 1 Armoured Division was stopped in its tracks after Read more [...]

Mahakala statue discovered in Boyolali

Officers from the Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB) discovered on Thursday a Mahakala statue and the foundation of a building at a temple excavation site in Gunung Wijil, Giriroto village, Ngemplak district, Boyolali, Central Java. The statue, suspected to be a relic of the Hindu Shiva era of the 9th century, was found just 30 centimeters under the ground’s surface. The discovery is not far from the location where a Nandeswara statue was discovered at the end of March. “We suspect Read more [...]

Hindu Americans Call for Equality, Urge Govt Not to Erase Their Identity and Heritage

Hindu Americans Ask California Government for Fair Equality and Justice and Dignity of their Hindu Heritage Hindu Americans of all types converged on Sacramento yesterday to voice their concerns about the California Department of Education Instructional Quality Commission’s (IQC) plans to accept problematic edits made by a small group of South Asian studies faculty. These proposed edits would have largely removed references to India and Hinduism, and replaced them with the terms “South Asia” Read more [...]