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British government has revoked visas issued to two prominent members of right-wing Hindu organisations in the south Indian state of Kerala after the Indian community here filed complaints against their visit. Sasikala Teacher, chairperson of Kerala-based Hindu Aikya Vedi (United Hindu Front), and N. Gopalakrishnan, director of Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage, were invited to [...]

“Swami Chinmayanda was an exemplary teacher – clear, convincing and with a lot of humour. On one of his Jnana Yajnas I took notes and wrote a long article for a German magazine. Later I gave its English translation to him. Swami Chinmayananda read through it and acknowledged that I had conveyed the teaching well, [...]

KATHMANDU: If there is anything that last week’s earthquake hasn’t changed in the devastated Basantpur Durbar Square, it’s the daily worship of Kumari, Nepal’s living virgin goddess. Even a week after the devastating 7.9-magnitude quake left much of Nepal in ruins with the toll nearing 7,000, her puja continues as usual at her abode, Kumari [...]

India’s government has rejected the findings of a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom that criticized the treatment of religious minorities since it came to power last year. The commission’s 2015 report said that since Narendra Modi’s party took over, religious minorities have been subject to derogatory comments by politicians linked [...]

While the massive earthquake has flattened several centuries-old structures in Nepal, the Pashupatinath temple has suffered only slight damage. Much like the Kedarnath shrine, which withstood the devastating flash floods of 2013, the Pashupatinath temple too has stood up to nature’s fury. Both are among the sub-continent’s most revered Shiva shrines. While devotees prefer to [...]

Growing up in San Bernardino in the 1980s a child of immigrants from Gujarat, India, Pixar Animation Studios artist Sanjay Patel straddled two worlds. Like many American kids of the era, he played with Transformers, watched Looney Toons cartoons and read Superman comics, but he also performed a daily Hindu ritual of meditation and prayer [...]

Kathmandu, April 27 (ANI): Yoga guru Baba Ramdev announced to adopt all children, who have lost their parents and family members in the massive earthquake in Nepal that has claimed more than 2,500 lives. Ramdev, who himself survived the disaster by a few minutes at a yoga camp, called upon his volunteers to donate blood [...]

A former Los Angeles police officer and self-styled preacher, has sparked outcry by suggesting that Nepalis should not rebuild their “pagan shrines” and instead convert to Christianity. Tony Miano, an outspoken conservative who has previously been accused of homophobia, triggered angry responses when he posted a series of messages on social media, expressing sympathy for [...]

Bhagirath Koirala, a Hindu priest, was falsely accused of inciting panic on April 10 by making a bomb threat, and complicity PAINESVILLE, OHIO – Today, the Painesville Municipal Prosecutor moved and Judge Michael A. Cicconetti of the Painesville Municipal Court agreed to dismiss all criminal charges against Bhagirath Koirala (age 67) of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Mr. [...]

MADURAI/CHENNAI: Six brass idols and a spear were stolen from the 1,000-year-old Adhi Ratneswarar temple at Tiruvadanai in Ramanathapuram district on Monday night.  The idols stolen — of Vinayaka, Murugan, Bhavani, Sita, Chandrasekar (Shiva) and Soolapidari (Kali) — were one foot and two feet tall and belonged to the Pandya period. The theft was noticed [...]