Nanya Dhrusha Pasupathe Hruthi Me Dhvadheeye /
siddham vahami Charane Pasu Pasa Nasin //

Lakshmi is the household goddess of most Hindu families. Although she is worshiped daily, the festive month of October is special. Lakshmi Puja is celebrated on the full moon night of Kojagari or Sharad Purnima.

Knowing that I know nothing and still struggling to know some thing worth.

Hindu Epic Mahabharata Retold–Tweet By Tweet

Source: www.reuters.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 10, 2009: An ancient Indian epic about princes, demigods and a cataclysmic war is getting a makeover on Twitter — 140 characters at a time.

Chindu Sreedharan, a U.K.-based lecturer, is retelling the Mahabharata using the micro-blogging service, hoping to lure readers with creative snippets posted in chronological order.

“This is not quite about capturing the philosophical richness of the original Mahabharata — but presenting a version that will, hopefully, suit the medium,” Sreedharan, 36, told Reuters in an e-mail interview.

“My hunch was, to keep the follower hooked, you needed a tale that provided for plenty of dramatic tension. Mahabharata does that,” he added.
HPI-Aug 12, 2009

(I am also putting up, Thirukkural in English - a verse a day basis at the same place.).

Valmiki Jayanti (October 4, 2009)
Maharishi Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, was a Hindu sage who lived around the beginning of the first millennium B.C. A contemporary of the heroes of the Ramayana, he gives very little facts about himself.

Ther is only one room, kitchen and a hall. Usage depends on the necessity. Thre is a seashore close by and municipal library, a church, super markets, etc. Most time spent in the hall.

Source: online.wsj.com

UNITED STATES, July 28, 2009: Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists have made remarkable strides in establishing houses of worship in America. Many are now turning to mobilize talent and resources to serve their community and the nation, institutionalizing the component of selfless service, or seva.

Seva is an integral part of Dharmic culture and religious practice, from volunteering in soup kitchens and shelters, to assisting in health camps and disaster relief.

“As we strive to become integrated in all aspects of American life, we are addressing growing social service needs,” says Anju Bhargava of Hindu American Seva Charities and a member of the President’s Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Some examples are the Ganesh Temple in New York, with a culturally sensitive senior center; the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Maryland, which regularly feeds 4,500 homeless and the Bharatiya Temple in Detroit which provides basic health care referral for uninsured families. The many Swaminarayan temples provide myriad services - from medical assistance to earthquake and flood relief.

In response to President Obama’s call for service, many segments of the Indian American community are coming together in the spirit of seva, in an united effort to engage in service-oriented projects.
HPI-Aug 12, 2009

He sings in his father's arms, sings his father
to sleep, all the while seeing how on that face
grown suddenly strange, wasting to shadow,
time moves. Stern time. Sweet time. Because his father

asked, he sings; because they are wholly lost.
How else, in immaculate noon, will each find
each, who are so close now? So close and lost.
His voice stands at windows, runs everywhere.

Was death giant? O, how will he find his
father? They are so close. Was death a gust?
By which door did it come? All the day's doors
are closed. He must go out of those hours, that house,

the enfolding limbs, go burdened to lean:
you must sing to be found; when found, you must sing.

~ Li-Young Lee

It's a common remonstration: Take time to stop and smell the roses. Or to look at them. Artist Georgia O'Keeffe wished to encourage people to do the latter. She said, "Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not." With this in mind, she began her series of flower paintings in the mid-1920s. First exhibited in 1925, her painting of a calla lily sold for $25,000 three years later. In 1929, O'Keeffe took her first trip to New Mexico — the place where she would make her home. She painted landscapes and still-lifes of the bones of animals that she found in the area. Georgia O'Keeffe was born on November 15,1887. She died at the age of 98. Her ashes were scattered on the grounds of her home, Ghost Ranch.

Repettition of the name (of the Lord) - "Nama Japa". It is the simplest to start with. A famous poet repeated his own name and succeeded.

Relation of mine, just fourteen years old, won the National First Prize in the Carnatic music competition. Hia father is an instrumentalist. His Grand father is a musician, violinist and Bajan conductor.

HPI - Aug 13, 2009

Source: www.geocities.com

SAN JUAN, TRINIDAD&TOBAGO, August 8, 2009: Though many immigrants lose their accents and their cultural roots, it seems the last thing they are willing to give up is their food.

Kumar Mahabir, author of “Caribbean East Indian Recipes,” provides a comprehensive background to the ingredients, mores, folkways and history of East Indian foods in the Caribbean. The directions in the book’s recipes are simple. This book is a gift to those who like good food and who want to explore and sample a vital part of Caribbean culinary history.

Karwa Chauth (October 8, 2009)
'Karwa Chauth' is a ritual of fasting observed by married Hindu women seeking the longevity, well-being and prosperity of their husbands. It is popular amongst married women in many parts of India.

Deepavali or Diwali - also known as the "Festival of Lights" is the biggest festival in the Hindu Calendar. What is the date for Diwali 2009?
Answer: Diwali falls on Saturday, October 17, 2009.

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2008 the dates were November 28 and 29 respectively. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters magazine, based in Canada. The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption." In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called "Black Friday", which is one of the 10 busiest shopping days in the United States.
 

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini was born on 22nd of December,1858. One of the world's most famous composers of opera, he is best known for his tragic love stories: La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904). Puccini was close to the end of his last opera, Turandot, when he succumbed to cancer in 1924. News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La Bohème. The performance was halted and the orchestra moved to playing Frédéric Chopin's Funeral March. Turandot was completed by fellow composer, Franco Alfano, and was first played in 1926 at La Scala, with Arturo Toscanini conducting.
 

Eastern Himalayas Has An Abundance of New Species, Already Endangered

HPI - Aug 13, 2009

Source: www.cnn.com

INDIA, August 12, 2009: Over 350 new species including the world’s smallest deer, a “flying frog” and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change.

A decade of research carried out by scientists for the WWF in remote mountain areas brought discoveries such as a bright green frog that uses its red and long webbed feet to glide in the air.

The WWF report, “The Eastern Himalayas — Where Worlds Collide,” details discoveries made by scientists from various organizations between 1998 and 2008 in a region reaching across Bhutan and northeast India to the far north of Myanmar as well as Nepal and southern parts of Tibet in China. “This rugged and remarkable landscape is already seeing direct, measurable impacts from climate change and risks being lost forever,” the report says.

About God & Religion: From Gandhi's Pen
Thursday October 1, 2009

Even as the Swiss penmaker Mont Blanc launches a gold-and-silver fountain pen to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948), we take a look at some invaluable quotations that flowed from the pen of India's "Father of the Nation," who has come to symbolize peace, non-violence, freedom and justice the world over.

Mont Blanc's recently introduced series of premium pens called the 'Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241', is named after the 241 miles travelled by Gandhi during the Salt March. The pens, priced at $3,000 (Rs 1.1 million) each, has an 18-carat solid gold, rhodium-plated nib, engraved with Gandhi's image, and "a saffron-colored mandarin garnet" on the clip. The elite product, many think, is "not relevant" to Gandhi's name, as he did not represent the elitist. Amit Modi of the Sabarmati Ashram, founded by Gandhi, told the media, "If he had seen this, he would have thrown it away." However, the pens have the blessing of Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma's great-grandson, who received $146,000 from the company to build homes for rescued child laborers. Any comments?

Related Link on Gandhi:

http://hinduism.about.com/b/2009/10/01/about-god-religion-from-gandhis-pen.htm

 
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, often called the father of gymnastics, was born in 1778. Jahn was a high school teacher in Berlin. After Napoleon's army defeated Prussia, Jahn felt the need to rebuild the nationalist spirit of his country's youth; he thought to reinvigorate both their morale and their physical stamina through the practice of gymnastics. A founder of the Turnverein, a gymnastics association, Jahn invented the balance beam, parallel bars, gymnastic rings and the vaulting horse.

HPI - Aug 16, 2009

India “Regrets” US Body’s Censure

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

INDIA, August 14, 2009: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) decision to put India on a list of states which failed to protect religious minorities is “regrettable”, India’s foreign ministry says. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a “disturbing increase” in religious violence.

Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.

Reacting to the report, a spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, Vishnu Prakash, said: “India, a country of 1.1 billion people, is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.”

The panel issues an annual report on religious freedom every May, but the chapter on India was delayed.

Glíma is the Icelandic national style of amateur Folk wrestling.There are four points that differentiate it from other forms of wrestling: The opponents must always stand erect. The opponents step clockwise around each other (looks similar to a waltz). This is to create opportunities for offense and defense, and to prevent a stalemate. It is not permitted to fall down on your opponent or to push him down in a forceful manner, as it is not considered sportsman-like. The opponents are supposed to look across each other's shoulders as much as possible because it is considered proper to wrestle by touch and feel rather than sight.

Ask people to think of a romantic activity in New York City and many will immediately conjure up images of a couple, bundled cozily under a blanket, riding around Central Park in a hansom cab. The clop-clop of the horse's hooves adds to the atmosphere. Joseph Hansom designed the first hansom cabs in 1834 to take people around the busy London streets. Hansom, an architect who designed Birmingham Town Hall, Mount St. Mary's College near Sheffield, and some 200 other buildings, was born on October 26,1803.
 

Carnatic Melody. I have answered this same question even earlier.

The world is always rotating and not stands still. Human community has come to a stop. When will they change?  Only God knows.

During the early part of seventies(1970), I was workoing in the Capital city Colombo. That particular day I was too early to reach my office. Office was not opened yet. I decided for a walk along the 'Galle Face green' close by. There was fog(mist) over the grass. Little bit cold. There was a road side tap, A lady was bathing her baby , not yet completed even one month in cold pipe water. I was shocked. Still I am unable to forget it.

School History Textbooks Used in India Available On-Line

Source: www.scribd.com

KAUAI, HAWAII, August 16, 2009: In our effort to improve the teaching of Hindu and Indian history, Hinduism Today magazine has posted on the free site, scribd.com, a series of history books used in India. Clicking on the URL above will take you to the page where each can be read, or downloaded as a PDF file.

They include:


   1. Themes in Indian history, parts 1, 2 and 3, for 12th standard
   2. Our Pasts I for standard 6
   3. Our Pasts II for standard 7
   4. Our Pasts III, part 1, for standard 8 (there is no part 2 for Our Pasts III)
   5. Medieval India, for 11th standard, by Meenakshi Jain, the so-called “saffronized” textbook produced under BJP rule
   6. Ancient India, for 11th standard, by Makkhan Lal, also a BJP-period book
   7. History in the New NCERT textbooks a critique of the BJP books by the Indian History Congress, a Marxist group of historians
   8. Fallacies in the IHC report, a rebuttal of the above
   9. The 6th to 12th standard history books presently in use in Tamil Nadu, with an emphasis on South India



Also included are Hinduism Today’s history material:

   1. Chapter One: Hinduism from Ancient Times
   2. Chapter Two: Hindu India: 300 to 1100 ce
   3. Sets of six lesson plans each for the above chapters.



All of the books are useful. The Indian books are “controversial” only in regard to the Aryan Invasion and the Muslim period. The current government puts forward the Aryan Invasion and emphasizes positive aspects of the Muslim period. The BJP books question or reject the Aryan Invasion and emphasize the devastation of the Muslim period.

However, on both counts, a balanced view can be gotten by examining the material in the BJP books, comparing it with the current official books and reading the critiques. The BJP books were written by qualified historians at Indian universities and represent true scholarly difference in point of view.

All the India textbooks benefit from a generally comprehensive and sympathetic view of India’s history and communities, one not found in Western textbooks. They are far more extensive in scope than anything found in the US or Europe for the K-12 curriculum.

A sannyasin of great spiritual attainment came to the outskirts of a village in India. He was camped under a tree for the night when suddenly a villager came running to him, screaming, The stone! The stone! Give me the precious stone! Which stone? asked the sannyasin. Last night, Lord Siva appeared before me in a dream, said the villager, and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at nightfall, I would find a sannyasin who would give me a stone which would make me rich for the rest of my life. The sannyasin rummaged through his knapsack and took out a stone. Probably He talked about this, he said, extending the stone to the villager. I found it lying on the path in the forest a few days ago. Take it, I give it to you, offered the sannyasin with all simplicity. The villager looked at the stone in amazement it was an enormous diamond. He took the diamond and went away quickly. All that night he tossed in his bed and could not sleep. The next day at dawn he woke up the sannyasin, returned the gem and asked, Give me the inner wealth which has made it possible for you to part with this diamond so easily. (Indian village tale.)

method of elementary education devised by British educators Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell during the 19th century, to furnish schooling to the underprivileged even under conditions of severely limited facilities. All students met in one room, with about 10 students and one monitor to each bench. The monitors, older and better students, were instructed directly by the teacher and in turn instructed the other pupils. This system, which might involve several levels of monitors, used elaborate programs of reward for good deportment and scholarship, supplemented by punishment based on "shame rather than pain."

There is no choice because I am prepared to live any where, an accomodation is provided and my children want me to live with them.

Sri Lankan Nallur Festival Has Devotion and Traditional Match-Making

Source: www.sundaytimes.lk


JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, August 16, 2009: Jaffna’s annual Nallur festival is a major religious and social event which draws devotees from the far corners of the world to this famous Hindu temple in northern Sri Lanka. Rain or shine, even through the dreadful war years, the Nallur festival has been held every year without a break. Although attendance suffered during the period of prolonged fighting, the level of devotion never slackens.

At the crack of dawn–before the sand becomes painfully hot–dozens of men of all ages perform the devotional practice of lying on the ground and rolling around the temple while reciting verses or just praying to the deities. Cries of “Haro Hara” and “Muruga” rend the air as women perform their own circumambulation, stopping every few steps to bow and kneel again. Many devotees repeat this practice every day of the festival, in fulfillment of vows.

The annual 25-day Nallur festival is a special magnet for Tamil expatriates and their families. In addition to the festival’s religious significance, there is a strong social component: because it occurs during August, when expatriate children living in the west are home for their summer break, their families
use the occasion for match-making. Parents make agreements to bring their offspring to the temple premises, so that each can see the other from a distance. “If the girl or boy is not satisfied, no feelings are hurt–because neither party was aware their parents had made such an arrangement,” one resident said.

During the last few days of the festival, hundreds of devotees fulfill vows of penance, petition or thankfulness by dangling from carts–supported only by hooks pierced through the skin along the back of their hands, body and legs. Swinging with the movement of the carts, such devotees are a common sight at many temple festivals in Sri Lanka. Another feature of these festivals is the Kavadi dance, which also sees many getting into a trance.

The vows are taken throughout the year for a multitude of reasons–a serious illness, undergoing an operation, before sitting an examination, seeking a job or after getting one, surviving the war, looking for a partner or getting one.
HPI - Aug 18, 2009