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There could be no more appropriate day for honoring Yoga throughout the world then on June 21, the day of the summer solstice. Yoga’s connection with light and with the Sun goes back to Yoga’s very origin thousands of years ago in India. The system of Yoga philosophy or Yoga Darshana, on which the Yoga [...]

For the first time, an International Yoga Day will be celebrated on 21st of June this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested this honour for yoga and his suggestion got overwhelming support from 177 countries. Yoga has indeed become popular all over the world. Many millions practice it – from schoolchildren to senior citizens [...]

Islamabad: Hindus in Pakistan are the worst victims of rape, says a report by an independent American group. In the past 18 months, seven incidents of Hindu girls being raped were reported, says the study by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Not only this, two Hindus were killed and four injured in 16 [...]

Good Vs Evil ? The Ramayana is said to be an epic that describes the triumph of good over evil, when Shri Rama defeats the rakshasa (demon) king Ravana and rescues his wife Sita from his clutches.But is the dichotomy between good and evil so accurate?Said to have been born with ten heads, Ravana was [...]

“The investigations also revealed that at least 90 persons from different parts of the world were involved in funding terrorists in the Valley. Investigations would reveal that between the years 2009 and 2011 an amount of Rs 12 million had been recovered. In addition to this fake currency and also euros were recovered from the agents [...]

As a member of the Dutch-speaking Belgian Yoga Federation, I received a copy of the booklet the Government of India issued for the United Nations’ first-ever Yoga Day. It falls on 21 June, Summer Solstice, a day of mixed feelings: it is the longest day, alright, but it is also the start of the sun’s [...]

Outfit president Rajinder Singh said around 17 members, in three teams, carried out the “operation” Signages of roads named after Muslim personalities such as Emperor Akbar and Firozshah, among others, were found defaced late Wednesday. The names have been blackened and posters of right-wing group — Shiv Sena Hindustan — were pasted on them. The [...]

The concept of monotheism is taken to mean belief in just one god, deity, the creator. This is contrasted with polytheism which belief in many gods, as well as atheism which is denial of such a supernatural being. But is it just so simple? Has this monotheist narrative now spilled over into what we would [...]

The evangelicals, it appears, are in a bind—they want to capitalize on the mounting popularity of yoga, but how can they embrace a practice steeped in Hinduism without compromising their dogmatic exclusivity? They can’t authentically do that, and so, yoga is repackaged into a Christian avatar and forcibly divorced from its roots. The commercialization of [...]

A religious spat has broken out between two neighbours in rural Auckland after one erected a 6.4m statue of the Hindu god Shiva. Ravin Chand told the Herald on Sunday that he installed the 30-tonne religious effigy so that he and his family could pray to it. But neighbour Bryce Watts, a Catholic, said the [...]