March 2005 Newsletter HINDU CONNECTIONS ~~~ VOLUME 3 – Num. 3
SHIVARATRI CELEBRATED
On March 12, 2005 the American Hindu Association celebrated the Shivaratri Festival
with an overflow number of devotees. The program was at the Shorewood Hills Community
Center. This special program started with the worship of Lord Shiva and the chanting
of prayers to him. Everybody prayed with devotion to Lord Shiva for his blessings.
Since the program was designed specifically for celebrating Shivaratri, there were
bhajans, kirtans, and a talk about the importance of Lord Shiva in the Hindu tradition.
Children from the AHA-Balagokulam program sang songs, and recited beautiful Sanskrit
shlokas. There was also a dance program. At the end, everybody stood-up in front of
the Altar and chanted the Aarati of Lord Shiva. Delicious Prasadam was distributed to
all. People brought sweets, fruits and other foods specially prepared for Shivaratri.
We have the Shivaratri program on DVD. If any one is interested in having the Shivaratri
Celebration on DVD, we ask that you please contribute $10 to cover the cost.
Hindu Images Requested For UK Book hindu@btinternet.com LONDON, UK, March 13, 2005:
Jay Lakhani of the Vivekananda Centre London is requesting help with imagery for a school
book on Hinduism published by the Centre. The first edition has already been printed and
half sold out. For the second printing he wants to add or improve images of: (a) Baby
Krishna (b) Scenes from Mahabharat (c) Colorful images showing characters of Puranas All
images should be in jpg files of 1 to 3 megabytes (no more) and should be royalty free.
Please email the images to "source" above.
Youth Value Religion - Religion Watch NewsletterReligious Values
INDIA, March 6, 2005: Religion is alive and well among Indian youth, who generally seems to
hold rather conservative values on family and motherland, and show pride of being Indian,
according to a recent survey. The Indian newsmagazine India Today devoted its entire January
31 issue to what young, middle-class people in Indian cities "think, do and want to be."
It also paid some attention to religious beliefs and values. More than 2,000 respondents
aged 18 to 35 were interviewed in 10 major cities across India. Over 70 percent of Indian
youth in those cities claim to visit a place of worship at least once a week (only 3 percent
answer "never"). Even if the figure may be inflated, it still indicates a strong level of
religious involvement. Interestingly, the figure is still higher in Bangalore, the high-tech
capital of India: obviously, being modern and being religious is not seen as contradictory.
Another indicator which confirms the attachment of young Indians to religion is the fact
that 66 percent of them report fasting for religious reasons. This does not necessarily
translate into a support for politics based on religion: secular values are obviously widespread
even among religious people, and most of them want a separation between religion and state. 81
percent of them want a uniform civil code for all religions in the country - an issue much
debated regarding Islam in India.--By Jean-Francois Mayer, RW Contributing Editor and founder
of the website Religioscope (http://www.religioscope.com)
England's House of Commons Celebrates Ramnavami LONDON, ENGLAND, March 15, 2005 :
Ramnavami
Hundreds of leading politicians were coming together today in central London as the House of Commons
celebrates the Indian festival of Ramnavami for the first time. At an event backed by the Hindu
Council UK several members of the cabinet, shadow cabinet and the Liberal Democrats party were
joining a host of dignitaries for the ceremony which celebrates the appearance of Lord Rama. The
event was being celebrated for the first time ever at the Houses of Parliament thanks to the efforts
of the Minister for Transport, Tony McNulty MP, and Parliamentary Advisor on Community Issues and
Hindu Council UK advisor, Mr. Abhay Lakhani. Mr. McNulty, Labour MP for Harrow East, first called
for the festival to be recognized at an event to celebrate Krishna's birth last year and has been
backed throughout by Mr. Lakhani. The minister said: "I announced last year at the House of Commons
that Lord Rama's birth should be celebrated in Parliament. This celebration has been in planning
for a considerable period and, with the help of Abhay Lakhani, I am pleased that this festival will
be celebrated in the Commons. This is a wonderful opportunity for the British Hindus to have the
festival of Ramanavami celebrated at the House of Commons where people of all faiths and communities
will participate. It shows the Hindu community's resolve to integrate with the rest of the society."
Mr. Lakhani said: "We are pleased to be celebrating Ramanavami, marking the birth of Sri Rama, at the
Palace of Westminster. "The actual date of Sri Rama's birth falls in April but we have brought forward
the celebration to accommodate the parliamentarians who may be otherwise engaged [with elections] in
April. "Sri Rama's birth celebration at the House of Commons is very apt, as like this majestic
democratic institution he, too, promoted the philosophy of 'living for the good of all and for the
benefit of all.' When Hindus celebrate the life of Sri Rama they celebrate the role of an ideal person -
someone who lives for principles rather than properties and possessions." Ramanavami is observed by over
one billion Hindus in the world and is rooted in the oldest spiritual tradition. It attracts people of
all spiritual cultures and is one of the most popular celebrations in Hinduism. All the Hindu temples
in the UK will celebrate this festival with drama, dance, music, multi-media shows and exhibitions
accompanied with free vegetarian meal. The preparations usually start many weeks before the actual
day and it will involve scores of volunteers.
Bombay Bazar
Fashions of India & Tibet
753S Gammon Road
Madison, WI 53719
Fresh vegetables every Thursday
(Next to Woodman's West & Associated Bank)
Ph:608-270-9822
www.BombayBazaarMadison.com
Open 7 day a week
India House
805-B S Gammon Road
Madison, WI 53719
(Near Pizza Hut and Woodman's West)
Ph: 608-268-0240
www.IndiaHouse-Madison.com
Open 7 day a week
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