Category Archives: Hinduism

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 [...]

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 [...]

Hindus Never Have Any Doubt About Being Indian, The Questions Are Raised To Non-Hindu Minorities: Lord Meghnad …

One of the world’s oldest forms of faith, Hinduism has an unbroken trajectory of beliefs and rituals that have passed on for many millennia through the footsteps of pilgrims and the pedagogies of theologists; through myth, science and politics. But what does all that mean to the modern Hindu today asks Hindol Sengupta in this special series – Being Hindu. Watch Sengupta in conversation with Lord Meghnad Desai, a self-proclaimed atheist. I was once asked: ‘Is it true that the Hindus Read more [...]

How the Indian liberal is killing Hinduism

That Charlie Hebdo editorial was Islamophobic paranoia at its extreme. But here's an exercise for you: cut and paste a rough translation of the editorial into your Word document, replace the word *Muslim* and its variations with *Hindu* and its variations and read it. That there staring you in the face is the Indian liberal agenda. In the last week since I joined a growing chorus of Hindus asking why their temples are being stormed, when Indian law protects against interference on matters of the Read more [...]

Hindu-Americans aren’t writing off Sanskrit just yet

Melissa Yang Arshya Gurbani, president of USC's Hindu Student Organization, hopes one day to learn Sanskrit to better connect with her faith. On a Wednesday night, Arshya Gurbani reaches into a white cabinet and wakes a couple Hindu gods from their slumber. She carefully lays out statues of Ganesh and Shiva on a table in preparation for aarti, a worship ritual that reminds Hindus to stay humble and give thanks for good fortune. But Gurbani, 21, and Read more [...]

An Introduction to World Heritages of Nepal

An Introduction to World Heritages of Nepal Mrs. Nirmala Pokhrel Lecturer, TU, Nepal The heritage of one country use to be fascinating to other countries and people living there. Those heritages also have endless significance. Therefore, the heritages of different countries having historical, mythological, natural, cultural and archaeological significance are enlisted in the World Heritage List. UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) has been working Read more [...]