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Akhara culture, a traditional form of entertainment, is fast disappearing from the city due to the onslaught of TV, video culture and modern gymnasiums. “Ab pehalwan kahan hain? Logoon mai pehalwani ka shauk ab kahan raha. Akharey isliye tutatey ja rahein hain. (Where are the wrestlers now? Wrestling is not people’s hobby. Therefore, akharas are [...]

At least three incidents of attacks on elderly Brahmins which involved the forcible removal of their poonal (sacred thread) have been reported in Chennai in the last two days. After an attack on a Mylapore priest on Monday, two other attacks were reported in Triplicane and T Nagar. “They beat him up and threw away [...]

In the latest attack on Hindu houses of worship in the US, a temple has been vandalised in Texas horrifying both Hindus and non-Hindus, who have offered to help the temple clean the damage. In the attack at the North Texas Hindu Mandir in Lake Highlands suburb of Dallas, vandals painted symbols of devil worship [...]

The Number of People Enslaved The number of people enslaved by Muslims has been a hotly debated topic, especially when the millions of Africans forced from their homelands are considered. Some historians estimate that between A.D. 650 and 1900, 10 to 20 million people were enslaved by Arab slave traders. Others believe over 20 million enslaved Africans [...]

“…aggressive religions – they tend to overrun the Earth. Hinduism on the other hand is passive, and therein lies its danger.” (Sri Aurobindo, 1926) Throughout life it has often appeared to me that Hindus were passive. I don’t mean passive in terms of being non-violent (though that may also be the case), but passive in [...]

Many people will tell me, “I practice yoga, I sing kirtan, and I study the Bhagavad Gita and Indian philosophy. I meditate, I believe in an all pervasive consciousness that is manifest as the Universe itself. People have called it by many names and it has been represented by various forms. I study herbal medicine [...]

“[Many Hindus] claim that having a liberal and enlightened attitude towards homosexuality means that we are giving in to Western influence and values. It is always intriguing when we hear uninformed people speak of homosexuality as a form of colonialism. Aren’t they aware of the apparent contradictions? Of all the institutions we have inherited from [...]

As Iceland begins construction of its first pagan temple in over 1,000 years, we speak to the high priest of the country’s fastest growing spiritual movement That Icelanders wear their spirituality proudly on their sleeves is nothing new. The country’s vigorous creative scene has for decades produced music that seems permeated with an almost palpable [...]

At age 13 I had decided to leave the religion of my birth, Christianity, in search of something. At the time I had no idea what I was looking for, or where I would find it. I was simply spurred on by an internal, unquestionable knowing that the relationship between man, God, and the world [...]

American scholar David Frawley, considered a “vedic teacher”, on Friday sparked a row after he criticised Indian education system for not “extensively” teaching students about “ancient India”. He also drew objection from the member secretary of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) Gopinath Ravindran to his observation that there was a lack of proper [...]