Religion News Service
UNITED STATES, August 2012 (Religion News Service): Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll. The poll, called “The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism,” found that the number of Americans who say they are “religious” dropped from 73 percent in …

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LOS PALMAS, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN, August 16, 2012 (laprovincia.es, translated from Spanish): Music, dancing, native foods and hundreds of people of the Hindustani community came together last Friday in Infecar for the birthday of the Hindu God Krishna. Over 750 people came to celebrate Janmashtami, the birthday of the Deity which is held in August …

HPI
NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 17th, 2012 (exclusive report by Hinduism Today correspondent Rajiv Malk for HPI). ” A truly dedicated and qualified priest is supposed to create a new world for his client and his family every time he performs a sanskar or conducts a puja. The job of a priest is of lot of …

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BANGALORE, INDIA, August 5, 2012 (dnaindia.com): Swami Vishnumayananda of Ramakrishna Mission has played a key role in developing a barren piece of land into a forest near Shivanahalli in the vicinity of the Bannerghatta National Park. It happened after the Ramakrishna Mission adopted a government primary school in 1986. The school building was in a …

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UNITED KINGDOM, August 1, 2012 (bbc.co.uk): The monk in charge of the Buddhist shrine inside the Olympic Village says it is a privilege to look after the psychological well-being of more than 500 Buddhists in the Village. It is, however, not only the Buddhists who seek his spiritual guidance, says the Most Ven Bogoda Seelawimala …

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LONDON, ENGLAND, August 7, 2012 (Hindu Forum Britain press release–HPI only just learned about this effort): We have established a Hindu Mandir in the Multifaith Centre at the Olympic Village. The temple is staffed by volunteer Chaplains, who do puja in the mandir and offer spiritual care and pastoral support to all who come to …

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AMRITSAR, Aug 13, 2012 (PTI–an earlier report): The third batch of Hindu families from Pakistan today crossed over, with members claiming that minority communities were living in oppressive conditions there and urged the Indian government to facilitate immigration of Hindus and Sikhs. Over 250 Hindus belonging to Balochistan and Sindh provinces, where the community has …

HPI
NEW DELHI, August 9, 2012 (report by Hinduism Today correspondent Rajiv Malik): “Today the greatest obstacles to happiness are not religious beliefs and values, but intolerance and lack of an understanding of our oneness. Fundamentalists of all types, including capitalists, marxists and secularists of today all seem to miss that mark. We need to learn …

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BALI, INDONESIA, August 4, 2012 (sbs.com): The “Island of Gods.” For ages, this pearl of the Lesser Sunda islands, an Indonesian archipelago, has embodied the archetypal land of plenty: the natural splendor of its tropical landscapes, its dreamy white beaches, the beauty of its Hindu temples, the friendly and tolerant reputation of its inhabitants. All …

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MADURAI, INDIA, August 4, 2012 (The Hindu): A US$717,500 project to replace all 74 pillars in the South and East Corridors around the Golden Lotus Tank of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here, which are estimated to be more than 200 years old and had developed cracks, is under way.
In the first phase, a total of …