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 [...]

Accepting an Inclusive Identity: On Being an Indian-American Hindu

I am a product of two republics: born in India, raised in America, I typically celebrate my American national identity through holidays such as the Fourth of July because I am a naturalized US citizen. So I didn’t think to get involved when a celebration of India’s Republic Day here in Michigan included Miss America - even though I share her cultural and linguistic identity as a Telugu-speaking Indian-American. But I wondered what my friends of Indian origin do, and did a quick survey. About Read more [...]

Along a river

The parikrama is an ancient ritual of reverence for Hindus and Buddhists. Circling the sacred — stupa or temple, or a sacrificial fire, tulsi plant or peepal tree — is a form of meditation in motion. A parikrama can also be a pilgrimage, an arduous quest where bodily privations prepare the mind for spiritual enlightenment, the circuit now describing an entire town — as prescribed for Benaras, or a mountain, Kailash, or a river, Narmada. The notion of a parikrama as a small journey that may Read more [...]

The Shramana Tradition Predates The Vedas

Rahul Gandhi’s demand and the cabinet’s decision to declare Jains a national minority is a welcome but overdue decision. It rectifies an inexplicable omission since a community based on a unique faith comprising less than 0.5 per cent of the population was nationally not recognised as a religious minority! Apart from the general apathy of successive governments and the absence of a persistent demand by the Jain community, the main reason was the 2005 decision of the apex court in Bal Patil vs Read more [...]