Faith & Religion Religion & Philosophy
The government should consult the church and the Missionaries of Charity before taking a decision on the Albanian government’s request for Mother Teresa’s remains, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) said. Albania is Mother Teresa’s country of origin. Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has asked New Delhi for her remains to be returned to Albania by the 100th anniversary of her birth in August 2010.
A Kerala scientist has moved the Supreme Court challenging the grant of “geographical indication (GI) status” under the Intellectual Property Rights laws to Tirupati Laddoo - the famous offering devotees get as ‘prasadam’ at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh.
This book is so small that you need a magnifying glass to read it, but it is up for sale at a whopping Rs.100, 000 (Rs.1 lakh). On display at an ongoing fair in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district is a ”Hanuman Chalisa” measuring just one square centimetre. The tiny book, which contains verses in praise of Hindu monkey god Hanuman, has been made by 57-year-old Raj Kumar Verma. The book, showcased at the industrial handicraft fair in Varanasi, is complete with hand-made illustrations too.
A120-year-old Hindu temple in Malaysia, one of the oldest in the Muslim-majority country, has been granted $175,000 in state funds. The Negri Sembilan state government gave the funds to the Dewi Sri Maha Mariamman temple, located in Pajam near Seremban, to help regularise the ownership. Temple committee president A. Thirumal Saamy expressed his community’s gratitude to Chief Minister Mohamad Hasan for the gesture.
Muslim clerics have termed as ”un-Islamic” and ”unacceptable” conversion to Islam to escape legal complications of a second marriage, citing the example of Chander Mohan alias Chand Mohammed and Anuradha Bali alias Fiza whose apparent wedding of convenience is now showing signs of strain. ”Adopting Islam with an intention for second marriage is not only un-Islamic but against reason as well,” renowned Muslim scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan said.
Should the education imparted at madrassas be broad-based to include subjects like English, maths, science and computers to make it employment oriented? The proposal by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has not found favour with madrassa authorities, though it has been welcomed by many Muslim intellectuals. Sibal has proposed introducing a Madrassa Board Bill, which will give broad-based education without affecting the religious teaching and also ensure that the degree obtained wil...
Syed Zafar Mahmood, president of the Interfaith Coalition for Peace (IFCP), recently said that the best brains should study religion to convey the message of religions more effectively. “Mostly poor students study the religion as a regular subject. The need of the hour is that best young brains should be sent for religious study so that they are enabled to propagate to the world correct message of God in an effective manner,” Mahmood said in his address at the inaugural session of the two-day co...
This temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district doesn’t have an idol or a priest and devotees don’t make floral offering. They offer liquor to the deity -- a saint who lived in the area around 150 years ago and was said to enjoy his drink in the evening and had a knack of clairvoyance and curing people. Welcome to the Khabees Baba temple situated in a forest area near Sandana town in Sitapur district, some 80 km from Lucknow, where devotees offer liquor to the deity.
Once the world’s only Hindu kingdom, Nepal used to be famous for its rudrakshas, the berry that is believed to have supernatural powers and is used as a prayer bead. Thanks to the invasion of duplicate beads from India, traders in Nepal today lament that the rudraksha business is fast losing its credibility and authenticity. Anuj Chhetri (not his real name) ran two of the most prominent online rudraksha shops from Kathmandu till rising prices and the flood of cheap duplicates forced him to wind ...
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 August 2009 15:20 )
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