Diwali is India’s biggest festival (Photo Credit: By Khokarahman [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons) Every year, around October or November, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide celebrate Diwali. Also referred to as Deepavali or the Festival of Lights, the five-day event, whose exact date is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, dates back over 2,500 years. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Diwali, which will be commemorated from November 5 to November 9 this year, is India’s Read more [...]

The festival of Devali is celebrated by Hindus with a religious fervor and enthusiasm. The history of the festival is associated with the ancient folklore. According to Hindu scripture during ‘Treta yug’ (initial period of tr world), Dasrath Ram the king of Audhiya exiled his son Shri Ram for fourteen years to jungle enticed by his youngest wife Rani Kekaai. Rani Kekkai, opposing the title of Ram as crown prince insisted the king to exile him to wilderness because as his step mother she didn’t Read more [...]

Devotees fast during the day and hold vigils during the night for the auspicious event. MANSEHRA: At the stroke of midnight on the 13th day of Phalguna, the twelfth month of the Hindu calendar, Hindus all around the world remember Lord Shiva. The three-day festival of Shivratri or Great Night of Shiva usually falls between mid-February and early March. It is supposed Read more [...]

Yatrees enter Pakistan via Wagah border. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK / EXPRESS LAHORE:  “We have received a lot of love here,” Aruna Gupta said.  Somehow, the exhaustion of having travelled by foot across the border to Pakistan from India seems lesser, as the happy pilgrim thanked the Pakistan government for giving them special care. She doesn’t feel unsafe. A Read more [...]

  In a remarkable interfaith gesture, First Universalist Church of Norway (FUCN) in Maine (USA) celebrated Hindu festival of Diwali. According to reports, its minister Reverend Richard Beal, in Diwali worship service on November seven, read from ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord) and Rabindranath Tagore and said: enjoy the real Deepavali, by attaining illumination of the soul...Celebrate the real Deepavali by living in Brahman, and enjoy the eternal bliss of the soul...Merge Read more [...]

  Ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord) was one of the Fall 2010 readings at prestigious Ursinus College in Pennsylvania Well known Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, described this action of Ursinus as "a step in the right direction" as students should have knowledge of the entire society to become full participants in the society. Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged the schools/departments of religion and Read more [...]

Hindus are inheritors of a culture which integrated spirituality and science with great pageantry. Hinduism's underlying core belief is that there is only God and everything emanates from that One. All forms are an expression of the divine (divya), each representing and showcasing one or many aspects of the divine qualities. The multi-faceted Vedic Hinduism's original name is Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Order). Our ancient ones (rishis) taught us, at the inner core, the human life is Sat-Chit-Anand Read more [...]

Diwali is a joyous festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists (Dharmic traditions) and the festive spirit expressed by those of "any, all and no faith." Though celebrated for different reasons, it has evolved from a pan-Indian festivity uniting multicultural diversity with worldwide cultures. The very foundation of Indian civilization is based on the pluralistic acceptance embodied in the ancient Vedic scriptures; the oft used perennial Vedic saying: "Ekam Sat Vipra, Bahudha Read more [...]