India’s new Rama temple saw half a million visitors on its first day open to the public

Ram Mandir Ayodhya Janma Bhoomi

Ayodhya, India CNN — Half a million people entered the new Ram Mandir on Tuesday, a controversial Hindu temple in the holy town of Ayodhya that is built on the ruins of a destroyed 16th century mosque.

Huge crowds of devotees queued outside the temple in the early hours of the morning carrying saffron flags and religious offerings on the first day the large complex was open to the public.

A day earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, in the building’s inner sanctum in a ceremony widely seen as a landmark departure from India’s secular foundations post-independence.

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Vatican’s Diwali message to Hindus advocates interreligious collaboration for building peace

Diwali LampsThe Vatican has called on Christians and Hindus to avoid giving in to “contempt for human dignity”, the “curtailment of the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, including religious rights” and “aggression” against those who are different and instead collaborate using religion to build peace.
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Namaste Yoga – ABC Short Film

Namaste Yoga - ABC Short Film
One of the most authentic portrayals of Hindu life in a Western country has just been released as a film on ABC ME and iview, called “Namaste Yoga”. Namaste Yoga is about Shiv, a 10-year-old boy living in Australia who is ashamed of being Indian, and when he gets into a fight at school, the only way to avoid suspension is by doing mandatory lunchtime yoga classes. Cue Miss Blanche – home room teacher and self-proclaimed yoga “guru”.

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Thousands of Hindus take holy dip in India, defying COVID surge

A Hindu devotee takes a ritualistic bath

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu worshippers have gathered on the banks of India’s Ganges river for a holy dip despite a 30-fold rise in coronavirus cases in the past month.

Hindus believe a bath in the frigid waters of the holy river during the Makar Sankranti festival, observed every year on January 14, washes away sins and frees them from the cycle of death and rebirth.

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Diwali lights up Shepparton with celebration of survival

DiwaliDiwali – sometimes called Deepavali – is a festival of light. It is a joyful time, a happy family time – observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and in some places, Buddhists. There is a legend that Diwali commemorates the time Lord Krishna saved the earth from an incoming meteorite by raising his hand into the sky and making the meteorite explode.

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Diwali returns in India as COVID situation eases

diwali15

As pandemic eases with India reporting lowest daily cases since February, the Diwali festival this year is back in full swing. Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, is the biggest festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists around the world.

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Navaratri

TrinetraThe Mother Goddess is well known in Hinduism. Almost every God in Hinduism either has a consort or a feminine counterpart. Shiva is Ardhanareeswara – both male and female; Ganapathi has Lakshmi for his consort, just as Krishna has Radha, and Rama has Sita. Divine forms take birth as human in order to overcome evil and restore righteousness to the Earth. Each year, there is a festival of the Mother Goddess – Navarathri (with a few spellings) which celebrates the victory of good over evil with the blessing of the Mother Goddess, who has many names and forms.
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Gandhi’s Birthday Reflections

MK Gandhi

October 2nd is the birth anniversary of Gandhi. INTERFIDEI (Indonesia), it is pleased to inform you that they are organizing series of Talkshows titled: Reflections on the Meaning of the Three Gandhi Issues in Interpreting the Practice of Religious Life in Society.

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Narali Purnima (Coconut Day)

Coconut for Narali PurnimaNarali Purnima festival also known as Coconut Day is an important festival dedicated to the Hindu God of the Sea – Varuna. The festival of Narali Purnima or the Coconut festival is celebrated with great fervour and in a jubilant manner by fisher-folk community of the western coastal regions of India. It is observed on the ‘Purnima’ (full moon day) in the month of ‘Shravana’ in the Hindu calendar and therefore referred to as ‘Shravana Purnima’. This year Narali Purnima falls on August 22, 2021.

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Spiritual Harmony between Australian Aboriginals and Hindus

smoking ceremonyA study in 2013 at the Max Planck Institute by researchers, led by Irina Pugach suggested that Aboriginal genomes consist of up to 11% Indian DNA which is uniformly spread through Northern Australia indicating a substantial gene flow between Indian population and Northern Australians occurring around 4,230 years ago. Some changes in tool technology and food processing also appear in archaeological records around this time, suggesting some migration from India. There is a harmony between the cosmogony of the Australian Indigenous peoples and the Vedic teachings about nature and harmony of all that exists.
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History of Yoga Films

Vishuddi FilmsIn the lead up to International Day of Yoga, Vishuddi Films have prepared a series of video on the History of Yoga in four languages. History is traced from the times of Harappa civilization. The story moves to explore the elements of Yoga in the times of Veda, Jainism, Buddhism, and several other doctrines. It takes you through the delightful journey of 3000 years of developmental history of Yoga up to the medieval ages.
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Ugadi: The Hindu New Year

KolamThe New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations. On January 1, 1600 Scotland, was the first country to adopt January 1 as the first day of the New Year. Now, many countries celebrate the New Year on that day. The Panchang, the calendar used in India, uses a different reckoning to the Gregorian Calendar. This day is reckoned as the New Year in many states in India: it marks the entry of the Sun into Aries.
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Dandenong Ranges: Hindu Temple to be reconsecrated

Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple in The Basin

As part of Hindu tradition, a Hindu temple is renovated, refurbished and reconsecrated every 12 years.

In the Dandenong Ranges, the Hindu Temple at The Basin is being reconsecrated on Monday, 25 January 2020. Covid-19 protocols will be followed, as more than 2,000 people are expected to attend and actively participate. Social distancing protocols will be followed.

After $4 million of renovations, the Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple in The Basin is having its status as a holy site restored with the return of sacred statues.

These statues, known as deities, can usually only be touched by priests. As part of the temple’s reconsecration celebrations, rank-and-file devotees have been given a chance to apply oil to them.

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The New Year: Make Every Moment Divine

Doorway


If you wish to embark on a new life, you need not wait for the arrival of a new year. To wait for a whole year means waiting for twelve months and so many days, hours, minutes and seconds. Treat every second as new. Sanctify every moment of your life. This has to be done by realising the unity of the Divine and the individual Consciousness. When this union is achieved, Spiritual Bliss is experienced. This is the primary task before everyone.

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Paramahansa Yogananda: A Cradle for the Christ of Everywhere

An Australian AngelShepparton Interfaith Network sends greetings of this Christmas Day to all peoples of all faiths – in the Goulburn Valley, nay, in Victoria, Australia, world-wide. Covid 19 aside (it causes separation on this feast day) we offer the message of the angels: Glory to God in the Highest – may all who live be the Glory of God, and may the Angels of the Christ Morn bring peace and good will to all Men, Women and Child. And those who suffer the Covid 19. Be blessed, this Christ Morn. Here, we bring you the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda on A Cradle for the Christ of Everywhere.

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Deepavali – the festival of light

Divya LampDeepavali – often called Diwali – is an Indian festival of light, which occurs on 14 November 2020. We say “Indian Festival” for it is common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jains. It is a celebration of light over darkness, the victory of good over evil, and fostering of peace and harmony.
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‘Christians and Hindus: Rekindling Positivity and Hope during the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond’

Divya lampThe Vatican greets Hindus on the occasion of Diwali, festival of light. The occasion of Diwali is celebrated by all Hindus, and is known as Deepavali, or the “row of oil lamps”. Symbolically based on ancient mythology, it represents the victory of truth over lies, of light over darkness, of life over death, and of good over evil. The actual celebration lasts three days, marking the beginning of a new year, family reconciliation, especially between brothers and sisters, and worship of God. This year the feast will be celebrated by many Hindus on Nov. 14, 2020. Here, we share the message from the Vatican to Hindus:
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