Health Minister says that India will be polio-free in 3 years

I've always tried to project a positive image of India to my western friends, but how can I when publications such as the Financial Times describe Uttar Pradesh as an exporter of polio and the image problems (to say the least) that public defecation pose in India's bid to host the Commonwealth Games?

India says will be polio-free in three years - Yahoo! News

Best wishes for a joyous and blessed Diwali

To all my readers and friends,

Best wishes for a joyous and blessed Diwali

The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi's Durga Puja to have authentic Bengali feel

An article from The Hindu about celebrating Durga Puja in Chittaranjan Park (AKA "Chitto Park" "Little Bengal") in Delhi, where my brother-in-law and his family lives:

Delhi's Durga Puja to have authentic Bengali feel

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

PICTURE OF DEVOTION: Artist Tapan Saha from Kolkata giving final touches to an idol of Goddess Durga in Delhi . Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

NEW DELHI: Preparations for Durga Puja across the Capital are coming to an end. Hundreds of artisans from West Bengal who have been camping at Chittranjan Park in South Delhi for the past three months are now giving finishing touches to idols of various goddesses for the festivities that are due to start from September 28.

While the smaller idols are being brought by various Puja samitis from West Bengal, the larger ones are being made here in Delhi itself -- albeit with mud brought from the eastern State. Even the clothes that would adorn the deities and the decoration and jewellery they would wear are being specially brought from West Bengal.

At 12 different places

The chairman of the Chittaranjan Park Mela Ground Durga Puja Samiti, Virender Kasana, said Durga Puja in the colony would be celebrated at 12 different places and the preparations have been going on for about three months now.

"Even the music players are being called from West Bengal and waterproof Kolkata style pandals made of bamboo are being erected to provide the festival a very traditional look,'' he said.

With cultural events such as stage shows and film screenings due to be held daily during the festival that would run up to October 1, Mr. Kasana said about one lakh visitors are expected at the pandals each day.

For the devotees, bhog (prasad) of the Goddess would also be provided each night.

To facilitate easy movement for people during the period, many roads in the area would be closed for vehicular movement. A major cleanliness drive has also been launched under which all streetlights, roads and footpaths are being repaired, construction debris is being removed and water arrangements are being made for the visitors.

In view of the high threat perception, Mr. Kasana said a meeting has been held with the area Deputy Commissioner of Police. And for fire prevention, the Delhi Fire Service has been urged to make adequate arrangements in the form of providing fire tenders near the pandals. Use of gas cylinders within pandals has also been restricted and all pandals are being made with two wide entrances and exits with open spaces in between to minimise the impact of any mishap.

Let's pray that the festival season will pass peaceably. Last year, Delhi suffered 3 bomb blasts, including one at a busy market within walking distance of Chittaranjan Park.

Michigan temple burnt to the ground

Below is a story that escaped not only my notice, but also that of Hindu Press International and the Hindu American Foundation. I found out about it only after browsing a news feed from the blog of Detroit-based political conservative commentator Debbie Schlussel.


Debris and a charred house next door were all that remained Tuesday from an Aug. 22 fire that destroyed the Bangladesh Hindu Cultural Center and Temple in Hamtramck. The cause of the fire was still undetermined. (RASHAUN RUCKER/Detroit Free Press)

Fire destroys Hindu temple; officials seek clues to its origin
No clues yet, says Hamtramck fire chief as members seek a new place to worship.

Members are still in shock and left scrambling for a place to worship after a fire burned the Bangladesh Hindu Temple to the ground.

A steady stream of worshipers flocked to the charred remains of the 3-year-old temple Wednesday afternoon. Only two walls remain after an all-night fire that struck as members prepared for a religious festival in September.

"It's more than a (temple)," said Utpal Dutta, 50, of Troy, who took his two children to the scene so they could understand the impact.

"It's a people gathering place. It's all the people coming together. I feel very sad. The people put so much effort into building this thing, and now it's down the drain."

Federal investigators said it may take more than a week to know what sparked the blaze that started about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday and took eight hours to control. FBI and U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department agents joined the probe.

"We don't have any clues yet," said Hamtramck Fire Chief James Szafarczyk. "I hope we can catch the person, and if it wasn't a person, what caused this. This could be just an accidental fire."

The blaze could be seen for blocks, said Maher Obeid, 18, who lives in the city. "It was really scary to see the flame in front of your eyes.

The Bangladesh Hindu Temple, which has a membership of about 200 people, was at Grayling near Lumpkin, about two doors down from the Holbrook Elementary School inside a former Ukrainian Democratic Club, Szafarczyk said.

Szafarczyk, temple members and others in the neighborhood said there have been no reported problems in the area.

Perhaps Michigan's most diverse community, Hamtramck is home to about 25 ethnic groups. Asian Indians make up about 5.5 percent of the city's 23,000 residents, according to census figures.

A $5,000 reward is being offered by the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee to anyone with information about the fire. People should call (313) 876-8777.

Hamtramck's City Council voted to allow the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer.

Sadly, this tragedy did not bring members together:

Social tensions in the congregation, which at one time had 100 families, also have taken their toll. A conflict among castes -- the hereditary social classes in Hinduism -- exploded into a major split shortly after the fire.

Disagreements about money and status also fueled the discord, and now the congregation has only 45 families, fewer than half of what it had before the fire.

- from Wanted: New place to worship.

Those who wish to help the Bangladesh Hindu Temple may send monetary contributions to:

Hamtramck Hindu Temple Donation Fund
c/o National City Bank
11300 Jos. Campau
Hamtramck, MI 48212

Categories: Hindu, Temples

New Bird Discovered in India

Bugun liocichla

An amateur bird-watcher has found the first new bird species to be discovered in India in over 50 years. The species was discovered at a sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, in India's northeast, bordering China. The species has been given the name Bugun liocichla, after the Bugun, a tribal people living on the border of the sanctuary. The bird is 8 inches (20 cm) in length.

Categories: India, wildlife

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

Last night, my husband and I attended a concert featuring Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son Rahul at the University of Maryland. This is the third time that we have seen Pandit-ji: we first saw him in Kolkata at the Calcutta Club and then we saw him perform with Ustad Zakir Hussain at George Washington University. The first half was devoted to ragas and the second half to a "light classical" piece that ran non-stop for 45 minutes. The stamina! The virtuousity!

The concert supported Asha, an organization that seeks to provide education to needy children in India.

Tulsi: The Holy Power Plant

An article from About Hinduism on Tulsi: The Holy Power Plant

Categories: ayurveda

Bomb blasts kill 37 in Maharashtra

37 people are killed and 100 injured in two bomb blasts, including one at a mosque, in the Muslim majority city Malegaon in Maharashtra.


malegaon tagged map by user - Tagzania

For more, read 37 killed, over 100 hurt in Malegaon blasts from The Hindu.

Categories: India, Maharashtra, Malegaon, terrorism

The artist formerly known as Aasish Khan

Aasish Khan, the son of sarod master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and a sarod master himself, has created a firestorm by changing his surname to Debsharma, declaring himself Hindu, and claiming that the family never converted to Islam. His father, who is now 84 and settled in California (where he has a much younger son Alam by his American wife), is very distraught over Aasish's decision.


Aasish Debsharma né Aasish Khan

What was the motivation of Aasish Debsharma né Khan? Was it fear in the post-9/11 environment, as this TOI article Post-9/11, fear has gripped all artistes suggests?

The article quotes at some length the views of lyricist and self-styled activist Javed Akhtar (and husband of actress and self-styled activist Shabana Azmi), who said that "people are overreacting in the West. In all these seven years of presidentship, all that George Bush has managed to do is to make this an insecure world." Hmm ... Javed Akhtar should be more concerned about Pakistan's recent decision to rescind his visa than about George W. Bush, particularly as he and his wife have made many overtures for closer ties with Pakistan.

I have a hard time believing that Aasish changed his name out of fear in the post-9/11 environment. Changing his name doesn't change his complexion or ethnic origins. He has upset his father and will probably incur the wrath of Muslims for his decision.

BTW Aasish is not the first member of his family to change his name from Muslim to Hindu. His aunt became Annapurna Devi, Ravi Shankar's first wife.

Categories: Music, Hindustani

Holland should not owe India an apology

Much has been made about the detention of 12 Indian businessmen in Holland after their behavior, which included "using cellphones, attempting to pass cellphones to other passengers and unfastening safety belts while belt use was still required," lead to their flight to Bombay being returned to Amsterdam under military escort (see The New York Times).

The fact that the passengers were visibly Muslim, with Muslim beards, scullcaps, and robes, only added to the alarm. Muslims are behind most transnational terrorism in recent years. That said, it must be admitted that Indians can be unruly fliers:

An Indian Airlines attendant who flies on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector says, "These so-called educated passengers do not switch off their cell phones when they are asked to do so, and still make calls when the plane is ready for take off or is landing. Before the plane halts, they jump up from their seats and open the baggage. They ignore the 'seat belt on' signs. It's really tiring to attend to such passengers."

Having flown on the route between Kolkata and Bangkok, I can vouch for what the flight attendant said. That flight was one of the most unnerving flights I had ever taken. Upon return, I wrote a letter of complaint to both the travel agency organizing the trip and Indian Airlines. I recalled taking the travel agency to task for claims about the quality of tourists that booked with them, and referred to the tourists as "louts and boors." Of course, I received no reply.

Safety instructions are not enough. Rules need to be made that violations of safety instructions will result in the plane being diverted and passengers violating safety instructions will be removed from the plane, and need to be stated as part of safety instructions.

The Netherlands should not owe India an apology for detention of the 12 passengers.

Another mockery of Hindu gods

Here is a mockery of Sri Vishnu.

These people wouldn't dare make fun of Muslim symbols, would they? No, they would be subject to death threats, or at least demands for apology and a shakedown from the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Twenty-first Century India: It is not the job of the US to stop Pakistani terrorism against India

An excellent article from the blog Twenty-first Century India: It is not the job of the US to stop Pakistani terrorism against India.

Unprincipled politicians in India are counting on the short memory of Indians concerning terrorist attacks in India.

GoI blocks blogs hosted by blogspot.com

I've been away from blogging here, so I didn't get to cover the Bombay train blasts. Mostly, we've been preoccupied with my father-in-law's health problems.

The Indian government's lame response was to block access to blogging domains that terrorists might access such as blogspot.com.

UPDATE According to Sandhya Jain, the GoI banned certain Hindu websites and blogsites "as the first concrete governmental action in the face of such a murderous attack on civil society":

In all, the government has blocked about 18 websites to supposedly check the spread of terror and hate messages on the Internet in the wake of Mumbai’s serial blasts. It is being claimed that the websites could be used by terror groups to communicate and spread provocative messages. The government did not announce the ban officially, and it was the ISP providers who confirmed receiving the site-blocking order. The premier blog site, Blogspot.com (http://blogspot.com/)) has been blockaded and this sent the entire blogging community into acute disarray, as technical reasons have forced a blanket ban on all blogs, since specific pages on the blogspot.com cannot be blocked; only the site can be jammed [italics mine].

Sandhya Jain then recommends actions that users can take to get around GoI jamming of Blogger:

Since the move is reminiscent of the Emergency—the anniversary of which passed barely three weeks ago—anxious bloggers have urgently sought (and found) solutions to the crackdown on freedom of speech. One is to visit www.guardster.com and use the free proxy at the bottom of the page; this will ensure that the Blog sites work without a hitch. Additional proxy sites can be found on this site and there is also www.econsultant.com/proxylist/index.html. One enterprising citizen has suggested using the anti-censoring site of our friendly neighbour, Pakistan. It seems that all blogspot blogs can be accessed at http://pkblogs.com a site created by Pakistani bloggers to bypass blockades by the Islamabad regime. Now that is a confidence building measure!

Found through the Pseudo-secularism blog. Please share this information with anyone affected by this blockade.

wcco.com - Repaired After Vandalism, Hindu Temple Debuts

Good news.

Three months ago, vandals entered the new temple for the Hindu Society of Minnesota and destroyed parts of the walls and icons that were shipped from overseas. The temple is now ready for worship...

For more, read wcco.com - Repaired After Vandalism, Hindu Temple Debuts (found through Hindu Press International).

This blog had reported on the vandalism in our April 11, 2006 posting.


Still from video about opening of the temple of the Hindu Society of Minnesota

Also check out the video about the opening of the temple from the WCCO website.

Categories: Hindu, Temples

Arise Arjuna: Patna Rice

I discovered the blog Arise Arjuna by accident, through checking web stats ... apparently, someone was using the "next blog" button in Blogger to discover random blogs, and Arise Arjuna referred the user to my blog.

The author describes himself as a " Management professional with love for technology and contributing my bit for changing the world for better." He's involved with an interesting project to brand "Patna Rice" as a Geographic Indication, like Darjeeling tea or "100% Colombian Coffee."

He writes:

Also got engaged in a project Patna Rice to establish Patna Rice as a GI and gain benefits for farmers and others associated with it. Of course a better branding for my hometown and also a Pilot for future projects are main drivers as well. The project also was a great learning experience in terms of a Global Collaborative team with Opensource/Free technologies and leveraging expertise from people in diverse arena and locations. Has been a fantastic first half of year and hope to continue in the same vein. Gave a chance to explore building a website in collaboration with group members who provided content, graphics and above all ideas these have also had a chance to continue my reading momentum.

More about this project can be found in his article Patna Rice as a Geographic Indicator. Among the goals of this project is to give people pride of place.

We wish Atul and his colleagues the best of success in this endeavor!

2005 Hindu Human Rights Report - Hindu American Foundation [HAF]

Today the Hindu American Foundation held a press conference on Capitol Hill on the release of its 2005 Hindu Human Rights Report covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Pakistan, and Jammu and Kashmir.

In the years that I've maintained the Sanatana Dharma web site (www.geocities.com/sanatana_dharma2002), I've seen many efforts at Hindu activism flounder. The Hindu American Foundation is certainly the best-organized effort I've seen. For that reason, I was privileged to be part of their 2005 Government Outreach and Leadership Conference.

More on Carnatic music

Categories: Music, Carnatic

The article Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music - Part 1 inspired me to post additional links on Carnatic music on the Sanatana Dharma web site I maintain.

I've posted links for Amutham Music, carnatica.net, the violin duo of Ganesh and Kumaresh, and Yesudas. To find these links and more, visit Sanatana Dharma and select "Music" from the left hand navigation frame.


Fellow blogger Q8TechDrive took this photo of M. Balamuralikrishna at a concert in Kuwait on March 29, 2006, which is posted at Wikipedia. Thanks, q8techdrive, for the tip!

India, U.S. Agree To Cooperate on Patents, Copyright Protection

From the Department of State, India, U.S. Agree To Cooperate on Patents, Copyright Protection:

India agreed to consider measures for preventing disclosure of proprietary data on U.S. agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals, USTR said.

Meanwhile, the agency said, the United States agreed to cooperate on minimizing improper granting of patents for products based on traditional knowledge, a contentious issue between developed and developing countries in the long-stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

Traditional knowledge is one of the interests of this blog.

Hindu Temple in Northern Virginia Completes Construction of Shikars

From one of the local newspapers, Area Hindu Temple Completes Construction of Shikars, or domes.

If you drive south on Hooes Road, and slow down at its intersection with Silverbrook Road, you will see a towering building on your right. Far back on its roof sits a semi-circular dome topped by a spiral shooting up to the sky. Two identical smaller domes flank it. Recently added to the front of the roof is a large rectangular slab of stone, mounted by a dome bigger than these, with 33 minute identical spiral-topped structures studding it.

The building is the Durga Temple, an Asian Indian Hindu temple, religious home to approximately 1,000 Hindu worshippers a week and cultural focal point for the Hindu community. Like the religion and its traditions, the construction of these spiraled domes or Shikars, can be traced back to ancient times and is in keeping with the rules of Hindu temple architecture.

Full-time resident priest Mr. Acharya Trilochana Bhatt likens the Shikars to antennas on a roof. "Every deity inside a temple is represented by a Shikar on the roof." He says. "No temple is complete without this." He explains that the word Shikar, which traditionally means dome or peak, marks the location of the shrine or altar within and is placed to rise directly above the altar that it represents. It is meant to be an expression of the ancient belief that the deities within have a direct link to heaven.

But that is not the only reason for the Shikars. In the amalgam of religions and cultures that color the ethnic landscape of Northern Virginia and DC, the Hindu domes are a visual and public representation of the 3,000-year-old culture of dominant Hindu India. Says fellow priest Pandit Muralidhara Bhatta, "Just as the church has a cross on its roof, Islam a dome and the Jewish religion the Star of David, we have the Shikars."

The Shikars also stand out for their spiritual symbolism. "Not everybody can come into the temple and worship whenever they want to." Explains Pandit. Bhatta. "But as they pass by, if they can see these signs on the roof, they can draw power from it. It is the same as if they had entered and worshipped."

The big dome on the back of the roof corresponds to the temple's main deity, the Goddess Durga, who is portrayed in classical Hindu mythology as a supreme being and a dispeller of ignorance. The two smaller domes that sit on either side represent other deities within. The last dome with the 33 little Shikars is the main one, according to the priests.

The little structures on this dome are also known as Kalashas and represent the entire pantheon of the 330,000,000 forms of gods and goddesses that make up the religion of Hinduism. With its installation, the construction will finally be complete and the Durga Temple will have made its mark as the first Hindu temple in Northern Virginia that has a visual representation of all the deities. Mr. Bhatt states "I don't think any other temple has this kind of a dome." Members of the temple have been urged to sponsor one of these minute domes for $2,210.

"Though the shikars have to be installed when the actual deity is installed, we somehow did not do it at the time." Pandit Bhatta explains. Construction of the rooftop symbols began only in April 2005 and was stalled for several months by last year's severe winter, according to the priest. It was resumed again early this year. Then followed the accompanying religious ceremonies, the Shikar Prathista Apna or installation of the Shikars, on April 29 and 30.

The temple itself was constructed in 1994, with the goddess Durga being installed in 1999. It is less common in Hindu tradition to dedicate an independent temple to the goddess, making the Durga temple the first of its kind in Northern Virginia. The temple is a community project and has, since its inception, been completely funded and run by the community, though it has since acquired corporate sponsors such as Ascend Healthcare systems, iLOKA Inc., net GRAPHICS and Wachovia Bank.

Apart from the regular rituals and ceremonies that are performed according to the Hindu calendar year, the temple holds a discourse on the Bhagvat Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, every Sunday, cultural activities for children and tours for people from other faiths. "Many Americans, including students from George Mason University, visit us and we tell them about Hinduism and how it is connected to other religions." Says Pandit Batta.

He avers that the temple's philosophy extends to include everybody in the community and hopes that the Shikars too will inspire everyone who passes by to aspire to the right path. "Though the form of the deity is Hindu, anybody from any religion can pray and worship here." He says. The temple, apart from local devotees, has participation by people from other parts of the United States and Canada.

Pandit Murlidhara Bhatta, who is originally from southern India and was sponsored by the temple to work in the United States as a priest, arrived here in 2001 on a special religious visa, the R1 visa. Mr. Trilochana Bhatt, who hails from the northern part of India, arrived here on the R1 in 2000. When asked what the Shikar means to them and what message it could have for the local community, Pandit Bhatta said "For me, the Shikar is there so that every individual can aspire to that point of knowledge and peace. Almighty God is the ultimate power and we can only bow our heads and stay on the right path." Citing the recent Tsunami as an example of man's helplessness in the face of nature's destructive force, he calls to attention the importance of keeping our eyes on the Almighty and not getting carried away by mere material progress. "Looking at the Shikars, we must recall to our minds time and again that there is certainly a higher power who knows and guides everything.

"It inspires a clear mind and simple thinking." Added Mr. Bhatt.

Categories: Hindu, temples

World Music Central - Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music - Part 1

Categories: Music, Carnatic

World Music Central features a Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music, that is, Carnatic music, which is not as well known as Hindustani classical music.


M. Balamuralikrishna

The article describes the basics, provides links to a few starter recordings, and to various Carnatic musicians, but how this article could overlook M. Balamuralikrishna is beyond me.

Reservations and Youth for Equality

Youth for Equality logo

An Email from my brother-in-law:

You may be surprised at the suddenness of this mail but you must be konwing (sp) about the anti-reservation protest that is gathering storm in India.

Kindly visit the link http://yfemumbai.blogspot.com/
and do endorse their campaign, if at least by boosting the hit score.

Please also pass this on to Dada and as many people you know for mobilising their support. Even if you have friends from the so called "backward" community, they should support the anti-reservation campaign because the only purpose reservation is serving is to divide the country once again.

If you accept people on the basis of caste alone and they are not academically prepared, these are possible outcomes:

- They will wash out academically, or accomodating them would mean a lowering of academic standards at colleges and universities that have produced world-class professionals.

- There will be another "brain drain" of India, as students seek opportunities outside of India.

Casteism is a cudgel for others to whip India. I joined other members of the Hindu American Foundation on their Government Outreach Day last fall, when they met with a staffer from the office of Representative Chris Smith (consider him the equivalent of an MP), who had held congressional hearings on casteism. It was clear that the staffer was hostile to our message. We said that we deplored casteism, and took issue with the fact that many of the invited speakers were anti-Hindu and had Communist leanings. I noted that reservations were already set aside for SC/BC/ST at universities and colleges, and the staffer said what about the secondary schools? The solution seems to be to redress discrimination early on so that everyone regardless of caste can compete for admissions on the basis of merit.

The Intifada that wasn't

The Pseudo-Secularism blog reprinted a column by Swapan Dasgupta titled The Riotous Media Story, which describes how the Communists in West Bengal exploited recent communal tensions in Vadodara to win the Muslim vote in recently concluded state elections:

... Communist leaders were warning people to be vigilant about a replay of the 2002 riots, the explosion of passion that yielded such handsome dividends for the Left in the 2004 general election.

The Left is headed for yet another sweep in West Bengal - no surprise there.

The army withdrew from Vadodara earlier this week, which is why I call the communal tensions there the intifada that wasn't (with a hat tip to Swapan Dasgupta). Several small Hindu temples as well as the dargah were destroyed to allow for widening a road.

Disproportionate response

I've been following the recent communal tensions (5 people dead) in Vadodara in regards to the destruction of a dargah (Sufi shrine) via the Press Trust of India (PTI), as we have family in that Gujarati city.

The Pseudo-Secularism blog posted an article Heroic pseudo-secular much ado about nothing by V Sundaram that examines the disproportionate action (500 Central Reserve Police Force and other army and paramilitary units deployed) to quell disturbances and more importantly, send a tough message to Narendra Modi. V Sundaram notes that that communal violence has been endemic in the Ahmedabad-Vadodara belt and predates Modi's tenure as CM.

Categories: Vadodara, IN, India, Gujarat

Map of terrorism against Hindus

I created this map through Tagzania to show the location of terrorist incidents against Hindus that are documented in this blog.

Categories: Terrorism, Tagzania, IN, India

Suryanarayana's body brought home

From NDTV.com Suryanarayana's body brought home to Hyderabad.

Suryanarayana was the engineer who was murdered and decapitated by Taliban kidnappers. His remains were found in Shahjoy district, Zabul province, Afghanistan on April 30, 2006.

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-30, Terrorism, Afghanistan

35 Hindus massacred in Kashmir

AP Photo

From Reuters Hindus massacred in Kashmir ahead of talks:

In one of the bloodiest massacres in recent months, militants struck two remote Hindu-dominated mountainous villages in Doda district, some 170 km (100 miles) north-east of Jammu, Kashmir's winter capital, early on Monday, and gunned down 22 Hindus.

On the same day, bullet-ridden bodies of nine Hindus were recovered from neighbouring Udhampur district. Police said the dead were Hindu cattle herdsmen reportedly kidnapped by suspected militants late on Sunday.

Categories: India, IN, Kashmir, Doda, Udhampur, 2006, 2006-05, 2006-05-01, Terrorism

The disappearing art of Mak Yong

The Pseudo-Secularism blog published a recent article from the Wall Street Journal Bit of Malay Culture Is Now Vanishing Under Muslim Rules about the disappearing dance theater form called Mak Yong, which has its roots in Hindu and animist religions that held sway in Malaysia prior to the arrival of Islam. Performers are typically women. The Parti Islam political party has banned Mak Yong in Kelantan state.

UNESCO has proclaimed Mak Yong as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."

Categories: Malaysia, MY, Kelantan

KL municipal authorities raze Hindu temple

In the three months since the launch of this blog, I've documented various attacks on Hindu temples in India, Indonesia, and the United States.

Outlookindia.com reports that municipal authorities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia destroyed a century-old Hindu temple to make way for a building project.

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-21, Malaysia, MY, Temples

Minneapolis Temple Attack Leaves Hindu Community in Shock - Hindu American Foundation [HAF]

Vandalized deities at Minnesota temple

Statement from the Hindu American Foundation on the vandalism and desecration of the temple of the Hindu Society of Minnesota:

Minneapolis Temple Attack Leaves Hindu Community in Shock

Categories: USA, Minnesota, Hindu, temples

Ethnic touch may prove costly for fashion designers

From The Economic Times, this article Ethnic touch may prove costly for fashion designers discusses the effort of India and other Asian countries to prevent misappropriation of traditional cultural expressions so that they benefit the traditional holders of a particular knowledge.

Five killed, 40 injured in Srinagar blasts

From the Hindu, Five killed, 40 injured in Srinagar blasts

Five blasts in the day, as people were preparing for prayers
Two occurred in the evening
Security forces were the targets, say militant outfits
First attack on a Central Reserve Police Force bunker

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-14, IN, India, Srinagar,
Terrorism

2 Explosions at Delhi's Jama Masjid

From Yahoo! News, two explosions struck New Delhi's Jama Masjid shortly after Friday prayers.

In response to these two low-level IED blasts, security has been increased for temples in Varanasi, including the Kashi Vishvanath and Sankat Mochan temples.

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-14, Varanasi, IN, India, Delhi

Happy Bengali New Year

Today is Boishakh বৈশাখ, or Bengali New Year.

To our family, friends, and loved ones, Shubho Nabo Boishakh (Happy Bengali New Year)

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-14, IN, India, Bengal, Boishakh

Deadly Fire Exposes Old Perils Lurking in the New India - New York Times

Manish Swarup/Associated Press

This article Deadly Fire Exposes Old Perils Lurking in the New India from the New York Times notes:

The hunger for brand-name goods — a Toshiba television, a Whirlpool washing machine, an LG air-conditioning unit — has spread to middle India. But that hunger has only exposed the raw and yawning gaps that remain: a disregard for health and safety measures in many places, combined with a deep public suspicion that corrupt officials turn a blind eye to the need to enforce standards in these areas.

There was no inspection for safety. Arrest warrants on charges of criminal negligence were issued for event organizers, but they fled.

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-10, India, IN, Meerut

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 04/09/2006 | Vandalism could delay temple opening

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 04/09/2006 | Vandalism could delay temple opening

Vandalism, including destruction of statues of deities, at the temple of The Hindu Society of Minnesota, will delay inauguration of the temple.

The society's website links to a guestbook to which you can submit your messages of care and concern.

Categories: USA, Minnesota , Hindu, temples

Salman Khan sentenced to 5 years for killing rare gazelle

From The Hindu: Bollywood actor Salman Khan was sentenced to 5 years of prison by a court in Jodhpur for killing a chinkara, a protected species of gazelle. Khan killed the chinkara near Mathania, Rajasthan on September 28, 1998, while on a hunting trip with fellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu, and Sonali Bendre.


Chinkara, Indian Gazelle Gir forest, Gujarat Photographed by S. Shankar

Khan was sentenced in February 2006 to a one-year jail term for poaching black bucks, another protected species of gazelle.

Categories: India, IN, Mathania, Rajasthan, wildlife

Fire at Indian Electronics Show Kills 45 - Yahoo! News

So sad ... another horrific tragedy with dozens of fatalities. From Yahoo! News: Fire at Indian Electronics Show Kills 45 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Pray for the peace of their souls.

Categories: 2006, 2006-04, 2006-04-10, India, IN, Meerut

Conspiracy to attack Hindu temples

From the Press Trust of India HUJI militants planned to blow up Hanuman temples.

Six Harkat-ul-Jehad al Islami (HUJI) militants conspired to blow up the two Hanuman temples in Lucknow on Ramnavami. Among these militants was Muslim cleric Walliullah, who is being held for his alleged role in the Varanasi bomb blasts of March 7, 2006.

Also noted: "three Bangladeshi militants who had triggered blasts in Varanasi could also be behind the last year's terror blasts in Delhi and Shramjeevi Express train near Jaunpur."

Last year's terror blasts in Delhi refer to the October 29, 2005 bomb blasts that killed 62 persons and injured 155 persons. One of the bomb blasts occurred within 15 minutes walking distance of my brother-in-law's home.

Categories: Terrorism, India, Lucknow, Varanasi, Delhi

On saffron

Categories: Spices, Kashmir, India

Today's feature article in Wikipedia is on Saffron, or kesavaram केसवरम. Saffron is derived from the stigma of the saffron crocus. It's fitting that today's article is on Saffron, as the crocus is a harbinger of spring.

In India, saffron is a specialty of Kashmir:

Theories explaining saffron's arrival in South Asia conflict. Traditional Kashmiri and Chinese accounts date its arrival anywhere between 900–2500 years ago. Meanwhile, historians studying ancient Persian records date the arrival to sometime prior to 500 BC, attributing it to either Persian transplantation of saffron corms to stock new gardens and parks or to a Persian invasion and colonization of Kashmir. Phoenicians then marketed Kashmiri saffron as a dye and a treatment for melancholy.[26] From there, saffron use in foods and dyes spread throughout South Asia. For example, Buddhist monks in India adopted saffron-coloured robes after the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama's death.

and

... Another premium saffron is the Kashmiri "Mongra" or "Lacha" saffron (Crocus sativus 'Cashmirianus'), which is among the most difficult and expensive for non-Indian consumers to obtain. It is even hard for Indian consumers to obtain, as most stores in India sell the cheaper Spanish saffron. This is due to repeated droughts, blights, and crop failures in Kashmir, combined with an Indian export ban. Kashmiri saffron is recognisable by its extremely dark maroon-purple hue, among the world's darkest, which suggests the saffron's strong flavour, aroma, and colourative effect.

The saffron crocus

Muslim cleric held over Varanasi blasts

From the Press Trust of India (PTI) via expressindia:
Muslim cleric held over Varanasi blasts

Categories: 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07, Benares, India, Terrorism, Varanasi,

Varanasi bomb blast victim leaves behind his eyes for others

From NewKarala.com, Varanasi bomb blast victim leaves behind his eyes for others. Ritesh succumbed to the injuries that he suffered in the Varanasi bomb blasts. Before dying, he pledged to donate his eyes. On March 28, doctors at Benares Hindu University transplanted his eyes to a girl, Nandini, and Devraji, an old woman.

Too often, the stories we get about India are about the cruelties and indifference in Indian society. That's why I post articles like this and the work of the bomb squad to defuse other bombs laid in Varanasi that show heroism.

Categories: 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07, Benares, India, Terrorism, Varanasi,

Deepa Mehta ... again

From The Australian, March 29, 2006, the article Plight of widows causes shock waves focuses on filmmaker Deepa Mehta, who resumed the shoot for Water 4 years after Hindu protesters destroyed the film set in Varanasi.

Deepa Mehta is yet another of those celebrities who trash India and are lionized as taboo breakers in western media. Others of her ilk include Arundhati Roy and Mira Nair (OK, I liked Mississippi Masala, but Kama Sutra was frankly pornography, despite good production values).

On ahimsa

Hinduism is often believed to be synonymous with ahimsa (अहिंसा); in fact, this article on Ahimsa from Wikipedia says it's at the core of Hinduism and cites the influence of the Bhagavad-Gita (भागवद् गीता) on Gandhi.

Michael Danino notes in his article The Gita in Today's World that:

To the West, there is either brute force or pacifism, either violence or non-violence ; to the Gita the truth is neither one nor the other, but the conscious use of force to protect dharma.

I would argue, however, that this duality is not (or perhaps no longer) exclusive to the West.

Danino concludes with this statement from Sri Aurobindo:

We will use only soul-force and never destroy by war or any even defensive employment of physical violence? Good, though until soul-force is effective, the Asuric force [from Asura असुर, or power-hungry being] in men and nations tramples down, breaks, slaughters, burns, pollutes, as we see it doing today, but then at its ease and unhindered, and you have perhaps caused as much destruction of life by your abstinence as others by resort to violence.

Scalable maps now on this blog

I'm using Tagzania to create and document maps for places mentioned on this blog.

This scalable map shows the places I've marked to date:

New use for an old product: Japanese researchers produce vanilla from cow dung

The gentle cow gives milk and its dung is used variously as fertilizer and fuel for fire. In some places, cow dung is processed into biogas to generate electricity and the remains are used as a fertilizer.

Now comes news that Japanese researchers have produced vanillin from cow dung: for more, see cooltech.iafrica.com | coolscience Vanilla extracted from cow dung. Doubtful that this would qualify as prior art.

The lost culture of Afghanistan

Afghan museum- Afghanistan - Kaboul - 1963 - Hadda - Head of Buddha, stucco (1st-2nd Century A.D.) Photo:UNESCO/Cart

I was inspired to add additional resources about the pre-Islamic culture of Afghanistan after posting Did Saudi engineers help destroy Bamiyan Buddhas?:

• BAMIYAN - AFGANISTAN from the National Australian University, Canberra


• Takeji Iwamiya Photo Exhibition - This slideshow of Buddhist images (in black and white) throughout Asia features a photograph of the Bamiyan Buddha and an exquisite head of the Buddha from Tapa Kalan, Hadda, Afghanistan, 4c


• Museum Under Siege - about the plunder of treasures of the National Museum of Afghanistan


• THUMBNAILS OF THREATENED AFGHAN GRECO-BUDDHIST ART - from UNESCO


• 3D Models - Gallery - Bamiyan Buddha - Three-dimensional reconstructions of the Bamiyan Buddha using stereo photographs

And here is a web site on Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan: Afghan Hindus and Sikhs

Categories: Afghanistan

Final California Board of Education Decision on Hinduism in Textbooks

"Better Than Expected"

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, March 9, 2006: The California State Board of Education approved a few additional changes to the proposed textbooks for social studies at the conclusion of its meeting today. They took public testimony on a proposed slate of change, or "edits," which was the result of a committee meeting of February 27 (see HPI, here for the complete background). An excellent presentation by Janeshwari Devi of the Vedic Foundation, which had spearheaded the effort to revise the books along with the Hindu Education Foundation, resulted in 14 additional corrections of contradictions and outright errors in the list of edits approved February 27. These included, significantly, changes regarding the Aryan Invasion theory. According to InsideBayArea.com (here), "The board also instructed the commission to add lines in the textbooks stating that the Aryan invasion -- the controversial theory that traces the roots of Hinduism to a migration of people from Central Asia -- is disputed." In all, most of the edits Hindus sought were granted, while controversial ones regarding caste, women's rights and other issues were not. These edits were opposed by a group of Indian leftists and non-Hindu American academics. The Hindu American Foundation testified at the meeting that the process of consideration of the edits by the Board failed to follow State guidelines and that they were considering suing the Board over these lapses. A lawsuit could hold up production of $300 million worth of social studies books by a dozen publishers for California schools. - from Hinduism Today

Update: Hinduism Today reports on the suit filed in State court by the Hindu American Foundation and a suit filed in Federal court by California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials (CAPEEM) charging that the textbook adoption procedure violates the federal rights of Hindus in California.

Categories: USA, California, textbooks

Did Saudi engineers help destroy Bamiyan Buddhas?

Bamiyan Buddha prior to destruction (1970)

Before their conversion to Mohammedanism [Islam] they used to imbibe the learning and culture of the countries they conquered, and by assimilating the culture of other countries would try to propagate civilization. But ever since they became Mohammedans, they have only the instinct of war left in them; they have not got the least vestige of learning and culture; on the contrary, the countries that come under their sway gradually have their civilization extinguished. In many places of modern Afghanistan and Kandhar etc., there yet exist wonderful Stupas, monasteries, temples and gigantic statues built by their Buddhist ancestors. As a result of Turkish admixture and their conversion to Mohammedanism, those temples etc. are almost in ruins, and the present Afghans and allied races have grown so uncivilized and illiterate that, far from imitating those ancient works of architecture, they believe them to be the creation of super-natural spirits like the Jinn. - Swami Vivekananda

Pakistan's Daily Times references an interview of a local Afghan who said that the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed with the assistance of Saudi and Pakistani engineers. (found via LGF)

Taliban minister of information Qudratullah Jamal said in a statement later, “The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can’t knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain.”

Note that Muslim leaders stated that by destroying the statues, the Taliban was hurting the image of Islam, not that it was wrong to destroy the statues. Iconoclasm has a long history in Islam, beginning with the prophet's destruction of the 360 idols in the Ka'aba.


Scalable map showing Bamiyan, Afghanistan

Categories: Afghanistan, Bamiyan

More on Bloody Borders

The Bloody Borders Project has been expanded to include a map indicating the percentage of national population that is Muslim. When this map is overlaid with the Bloody Borders map, interesting information about the distribution of terrorist attacks is revealed: for more, see The Umma's Involuted Border.



Terrorist attacks are most severe in Kashmir. As "Baron Bodissey" notes:

The nature of the “bloody border” is astonishingly clear in this map. With the exceptions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the highest concentrations of terrorist attacks occur along the edges of the Umma [the worldwide Muslim community], where it meets the areas of lower (but significant) Muslim population.

Kashmir certainly qualifies as the "edge of the Umma." I am not totally convinced by the Baron's efforts to explain how the borders of the Umma have been involuting (that is, turning in on themselves) since 2002, when foreign troops intervened in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Categories: Terrorism, India, Kashmir

Arise Arjuna: Varanasi women get fatwa issued

Excellent commentary from Arise Arjuna: Varanasi women get fatwa issued:

The bad part is justifying "fatwa" culture. Please understand. "Fatwa" is or should be illegal in a democratic country. For good or bad, please absolve of this fatwa culture.

Here in the U.S., we've had the spectacle of Muslim organizations backing a fatwa condemning attacks on innocent persons - four years after 9-11. The same bon-bon, Qur'an 5:32 (rather, a partial quote divorced from context), was used as the basis for condemning attacks on "innocents." As noted by Robert Spencer in Jihad Watch, the fatwa doesn't address statements by Muslims to the effect that civilians in various places are not innocent, and are not to be distinguished from combatants.

Categories: India, Varanasi, Benares, 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07

Bloody Borders in India

From Infidel Bloggers Alliance: Bloody Borders in India:


Terror attacks in India since September 11, 2001

Visit the Bloody Borders Project for more, including a time-lapsed animation.

Categories: India, Terrorism,

Bangladesh discovers ancient fort city - Yahoo! News

From Reuters, Bangladesh discovers ancient fort city

By Nizam Ahmed
Wed Mar 15, 5:59 AM ET

Archaeologists in Bangladesh say they have uncovered part of a fortified citadel dating back to 450 B.C. that could have been a stopping off point along an ancient trade route.

So far, a moat round the citadel has been uncovered along with parts of an ancient road at Wari, 85 km (53 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka.


Scalable map showing location of Wari, Bangladesh

"The citadel and a raft of artifacts may help redefine history of India," [italics added] said Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, head of the department of archaeology at Jahangirnagar University, near Dhaka.

"The well-planned road with even manholes proves that the citadel was managed by a very efficient administration," Mostafizur added.

"I am confident further excavation will lead us to residue of a palace," he said.

Archaeologists have been excavating the ancient roads and unearthing artifacts for several years. Tests by a Dutch university revealed the objects dated to around 450 B.C.



Artefacts found in the 600 x 600 meter (1,800 x 1,800 ft) include metal coins, metallic chisels, terracotta missiles, rouletted and knobbed pottery, stone hammers and bangles. Ornaments suggested Buddhism dominated life in the urban centers. Mostafizur said the citadel was believed to be a part of Harappan civilization and a prime trade center might have flourished there, possibly serving as a link between contemporary South Asian and Roman civilizations.

The Harappan civilization flourished in the Indus and Ganges valleys between 2,700 B.C. to 700 B.C.

Archaeologists hope the citadel and surrounding area yield many more surprises.

In Wari and the nearby Batteswar village there are 47 raised areas and archaeologists are planning to excavate all of these as well.

Categories: Bangladesh

Varanasi honours bomb disposal squad

The eleven members of the bomb disposal squad who defused other bombs on March 7 were honored at the Mata Annapurna temple in Varanasi - from Sify.com

According to the report Terror evening in Varanasi leaves at least 20 dead, "Four live bombs were defused near Dashaswhamedh Ghat, two kilometres away from the Kashi Vishwanath temple."

Categories: India, Varanasi, Benares, 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07

Names of 14 people killed in Varanasi released

The Hindu News Update Service publishes the names of 14 who died in the March 17 blasts at Sankat Mochan temple and Cantonment railway station in Varanasi. They are:

1.Harish Bijlani, Varanasi

2.Shyam Sunder, Sidharth Nagar

3.Prabhakar Dwivedi, Varanasi

4.Manohar Lal, Varanasi

5.Shivangi, Varanasi

6.Manmohan, Varanasi

7.Subhash Das, Orissa

8.Ashok Kumar Verma, Ballia

9.Lal Chandra, Varanasi

10.Hargovind Sharma, Bihar

11.Mohit, Bihar

12.Subhash, Bihar

13.Ramnath Pal, Pratapgarh

14. Shringari devi, Bihar.

Categories: 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07, Benares, India, Terrorism, Varanasi,

Safe Color Powders for Holi

Colours of Holi

March 15, or 24 Phalguna (२४ फाल्गुन), 1927 Saka Era, according to the Indian National Calendar, is Holi.

Hindu Press International notes that some schools in Ranchi have banned Holi over the use of dangerous chemical powders. Subhamoy Das has an article Play Holi...Naturally! at hinduism.about.com, which provides recipes for safe colored powders.

Categories: 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-15, Holi

Bomb targets Hindu temple in Indonesia

Bomb targets Hindu temple in Indonesia

The event took place the morning of March 10, 2006 in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi. A guard was injured in the blast.



Categories: Terrorism, Indonesia, Sulawesi, Poso, 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-10

Terror evening in Varanasi leaves at least 20 dead

Doctors attend a child injured in a bomb explosion, at the District Hospital in Varanasi, India, early Wednesday, March 8, 2006 (AP)

Terror evening in Varanasi leaves at least 20 dead - Sify.com

Bomb blasts in Varanasi, Hinduism's holy city.


Resizeable map showing the location of Varanasi

Categories: India, Varanasi, Benares, Terrorism, 2006, 2006-03, 2006-03-07

A.R. Rahman's production of Jana Gana Mana

Namaste,

Watch India's best-known instrumentalists and singers perform Jana Gana Mana.

Note: This is a very theatrical production from composer A.R. Rahman. Purists will object.

California Textbook Controversy - Tools for Dawa

Two articles by Kalavai Venkat on how the Council on Islamic Education has used its privileged status to determine content on Islam and other religions in California textbooks.

Categories: USA, California, textbooks

Common Locale Data Repository

The Common Locale Data Repository is a repository of conventions used in various locales. Its purpose is "to provide a general XML format for the exchange of locale information for use in application and system development, and to gather, store, and make available a common set of locale data generated in that format."

The CLDR contains XML data files for different locales that use the Locale Data Markup Language, expressed as a Document Type Declaration (DTD). I downloaded the XML data file for Hindi-India and was stunned to learn that the Indian National Calendar was not encoded.

I downloaded the LDML DTD and the Hindi-India XML data file, and tried to create new data for the Indian National Calendar (transliterated names, not in देवनागरी - Devanagari) in the data file through XMLSpy, but all I get is a message "This file is not valid: Unexpected child elements 'months'." Yet my data is structured identically to that in section 5.9.1 of the LDML spec!

Turmeric, to cure cancer?

Turmeric, to fight cancer?

Categories: Spices



This might not qualify as prior art, therefore, any discoveries on turmeric (haldi हलदी) as a cancer-fighting agent may be patented.

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

India: Breathe in, and hands off our yoga | csmonitor.com

I hate the title (because really the article isn't saying hands off "our" yoga; it's saying that traditional knowledges should be attributed to their source in India), but the content of this article is good news:

An online Traditional Knowledge Digital Library has been established so that others can't exploit traditional Indian knowledge as novel for patent and gain.

By documenting traditional Indian knowledge, many formulations would be regarded as "prior art," that is, previously existing knowledge about the applications of a product. Patent applications are usually rejected if there is prior art on the product.

You may visit the Traditional Knowledge Data Library at http://203.200.90.6/tkdl/langdefault/common/home.asp.