Hindu Coordination Center

Ganesha, ‘Lingga Yoni’ Found At Newly Discovered Site

2010-01-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Slamet Susanto , The Jakarta Post , Yogyakarta | Thu, 12/24/2009 9:26 AM | The Archipelago

Unearthed: An excavation team from the Yogyakarta Prehistoric Legacy Conservation Center examines a Ganesha statue and lingga yoni on Wednesday at the newly discovered site within the Indonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta. The site was believed to be part of an ancient Hindu temple. JP/Tarko Sudiarno
The Yogyakarta Prehistoric Legacy Conservation Center (BP3) has found a Ganesha statue and lingga- yoni structures at the site of a newly discovered structure believed to be part of an ancient temple.
Head of the center’s protection working group Indung Panca Putra said the findings led the excavation team to conclude that the site, located in the Indonesian Islamic University (UII) campus on Jl. Kaliurang, Yogyakarta , was from a Hindu kingdom.
“We uncovered it Tuesday afternoon,” Indung said, adding that the team was forced to stop excavating shortly after due to fading light and decided to continue Wednesday.
The Ganesha was found facing west with an elevation of 17 degrees from the north. In Hindu mythology, Ganesha is the son of Shiva and is described as having a broken right tusk, a rope on his shoulders, a chain of pearls in his right hand and an axe in his left hand.
As of Wednesday the hands of the Ganesha were not unearthed as part of the body was still buried.
The lingga-yoni structures were found 85 centimeters to the east of the Ganesha.
The team expects to find two more statues on the site, because according to Hindu mythology lingga and yoni always accompany statues of Durga Mahisasura Mardini and Agastya.
“Materials from volcanic eruptions could have buried these two statues,” Indung said. The site is located at the base of Mount Merapi .
The excavation team, which began Saturday and will continue until January 4, have also uncovered 16 pieces of parts of a temple wall. “We will study the findings in order to decide how to proceed on this dig,” Indung said.
Compared to previous discoveries of Hindu temples in the region, this site is considered less elaborate. “The Ganesha, for example, is around 85 centimeters high while Prambanan Temple ’s Ganesha is as tall as an adult,” Indung said.
The ornaments, he added, were also simpler. The head of the Ganesha found in Prambanan Temple , for example, has three levels with a crown on it. The one found at the site, however, has no crown and its hair is just tied.
These traits, according to Indung, show that the newly found temple served a smaller area. “If Prambanan Temple served an entire kingdom, for example, then this site would have served a village,” he said.
Indung, however, said his colleagues haven’t been able to estimate the age of the temple structure.
“This could be younger or older than Prambanan,” he said.
He added that based on the existing discovery, the site dated back to the ancient Mataram period between the 9th and 10th centuries. “We can ascertain the age of the site if we find the plaque identifying the year and the king who commissioned the temple,” Indung said.
The complex is closed to the public to secure the site. “If this proves to be an important site the owner will be compensated by BP3,” Indung said.
Construction workers accidentally found the temple structure last Friday while laying a foundation to build a library building at the university compound on Jl. Kaliurang in Umbulmartani subdistrict, Ngemplak district, Sleman regency.
UII Rector Edy Suandi Hamid confirmed his university will relocate the site of the library and is working with the BP3 and the Education Ministry

Galungan Celebration in Bali

2009-10-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

Balinese Celebrate Galungan

Source: blog.baliwww.com

BALI, October 14, 2009: Balinese Hindus all over the country celebrated Galungan, a holyday to commemorate the victory of dharma over adharma. This holyday is considered the pinnacle of Balinese Hindus’ view of their struggle to subdue negative forces called sad ripu (six enemies of the within). They are kama (lust), loba (greed), krodha (anger), mada (drunkeness), moha (confusion) and matsarya (envy). It is a struggle to free our mind from influences that lead us to do various bad deeds.

For Balinese Hindus, though this struggle is carried out everyday, the ultimate battle occurs every year during three-day period before Galungan, when three personifications of evil come to the world successively. With proper spiritual practices, the Balinese believe they successfully keep them at bay and prepare for a positive future.

Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Tradition

2009-04-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

by Stephen Knapp

Book Review by David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)
www.vedanet.com

Hinduism remains the most attacked and under siege of all the major world religions. This is in spite of the fact that Hinduism is the most tolerant, pluralistic and synthetic of the world's major religions. Hindu gurus have more than any other religious teachers in the world tried to find an underlying unity of religion to create peace in humanity. Yet though Hindu gurus have called for respect for all religions, leaders of other religions have not responded in kind by offering any respect for Hinduism. Instead they have continued to promote their missionary agendas and plan the conversion of India to their beliefs.

Why is Hinduism still so much a target of missionaries and the media? It is really very simple. Hinduism is the largest of the non-conversion, non-proselytizing religions and so offers the greatest possibilities for conversion. It is the vulnerability of Hinduism that makes it a target, not the fact that Hindus are trying to convert or conquer the world for some hostile belief.

After Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is the world's largest religion and the largest of the non-Biblical traditions. India, where most Hindus reside, has the most open laws allowing in foreign religious groups. While missionaries are virtually banned in China and in Islamic countries, in India they are often tolerated, respected and given a wide scope of activity. Since Christianity is in decline, particularly in Europe, it has a need to find new converts for which India is one of main potential locations, particularly as a comparatively high percentage of Hindu converts are willing to become priests and nuns. Pope John Paul II in a trip to India some ten years ago spoke directly of looking for a "rich harvest of souls in the third millennium in Asia", specifically India.

Yet most Hindus and groups sympathetic to them are not aware of this "siege on Hinduism" that continues unrelenting as part of the multi-national missionary business. In this context, the book of Stephen Knapp, Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Tradition, is very timely, well written and well documented. The siege on Hinduism has been going on since the first Islamic armies and Christian missionaries entered India as he clearly delineates and has continued in various forms, violent, subversive or even charitably based.

While people know the history of the genocide of the Jews by the Nazis, the greater and longer genocide of Hindus by Islamic invaders is hardly noticed. Even the genocide in the Bangladesh War of 1971, in which most of the several million killed were Hindus, is not acknowledged as a religious genocide. While people know the history of the Inquisition and the burning of witches in Europe and the genocide of Native Americans by Christian invaders, they don't realize that India has a similar history in parts of the country like Goa. Knapp fills in these gaps and makes these connections.

More importantly, people don't realize that questionable conversion tactics are still being used in India today, where in the South, the rate offered for conversion is around twenty thousand rupies, going up and down with the economy! They also don't realize that it is now American Evangelicals of the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson line -- the religious right that brought George Bush to power -- that is spearheading conversion activity and church building in South India, pouring billions into the country.

Yet Knapp's book is not just written to make us aware of this assault on Hinduism and its many dangers. He also provides a way forward, showing how Hindu Dharma can be revived, better taught, better communicated and more widely shared with the global audience, which is becoming progressively more receptive to Hindu teachings of Yoga, Vedanta and respect for nature. He documents the Hindu renaissance and the modern Hindu movement, which though small is growing rapidly as a Hindu response to this denigration of its venerable traditions. He shows that Hindus are not responding in terms of becoming another intolerant, exclusivist missionary cult. They are organizing themselves in terms of teaching, service and spiritual practices.

The book is well worth reading and will show any open minded person the Hindu side of a millennial debate on religion that has so far largely excluded the Hindu point of view. That Knapp is a western born Hindu adds to his credibility and conviction. He is not simply defending a tradition handed down by his family or his culture, but one that he has embraced from deep spiritual conviction and profound inner experience.
One hopes that readers in India will listen to his voice and that those outside of the country will recognize the Hindu plight along with the other forms of oppression going on in the world. Religious minorities at a global level are still under the assault of religious majorities, which have long been armed with petrodollars, high technology and control of the media. Yet as the book demonstrates, the tide is beginning to turn.

[More book info at www.stephen-knapp.com, and available as both paperback and downloadable ebook from www.iuniverse.com, and also through www.Amazon.com.]

21,000 Muslims embrace Hinduism in Agra and Roorkee (Haridwar) on Dec 25, 2008

2009-04-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

Development of villages is must for development of the country—Shiv Prakash
A total of 21 Prathamik Shiksha Vargas were held across Uttarakhand from December 26, 2008 to January 2, 2009. According to RSS Uttarakhand Prant Pracharak Shri Shiv Prakash some of the vargas were held in remote areas. Members of Prant Karyakarini attended all the camps. Shri Shiv Prakash himself attended ten camps. A total of 2,182 swayamsevaks from 700 places participated in the camps.

Addressing the swayamsevaks at SGRR Inter College at Bhauwala in Dehradun, Shri Shiv Prakash said swayamsevaks are today engaged in various constructive activities. One of them is development of villages. He pointed out that swayamsevaks have adopted about 800 villages of the country for their total development. Swayamsevaks are striving hard to raise the standard of education and living and are disseminating awareness about the protection of environment there. The children who do not go to schools are inspired to go to schools. He emphasised the village temples should not merely be the place of worship but they should also be the place of infusing a sense of harmony into the people where people learn to co-operate one another.

He said the Hindus should also embrace the Muslims whose ancestors were Hindu and a large section of them are willing to come back to their roots. He pointed out that about 15000 Muslims embraced Hinduism on December 25, 2008 in Agra and about 6000 Muslims were brought back to Hinduism at Roorkee in Haridwar last year. This process should go on. He said the yugdharma says the Hindus should accept the Muslims who want to come back to Hinduism.

THE ARUTHRA THARISANAM (Ardhra Darshan)

2009-01-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Prof. P. Poologasingham, D. Phil. (Oxon.), Sydney, Australia
One of the eight fasts (vrata) of importance in favour of Lord Siva, according to Kanda Puranam, is Thiruvathirai fast. Those, who perform it, are expected to arise from bed before dawn, complete their daily ablutions, go to the Siva Temple, witness the anointing ceremonies, light ghee lamps, offer their prayers, view the Nadarajah’s procession and fast without food until the next day when they can partake meal with Saivite devotees after their early morning ablutions and Siva worship. Patanjali, Vyakrapada and Munsishesha rishis are said to have followed this fast and obtained benefits according to puranic stories.

ARTHIRAI: Only two out of twenty-seven stars are honoured with title "Thiru". They are Athirai and Onam, which are assigned to Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu respectively. The Saiva world surprisingly has assigned a birthday for the Primordial. Athirai seems to have been assigned to Lord Siva from very early times according to literary evidences (Kalitthogai; Paripadal). Athirai is also called Chemmin, meaning red star. The word Siva too has the meaning of a red person. Those who gave Siva a peerless position also assigned one of the biggest stars to him.

MARKALI THIRUVATHIRAI: The last day of Thiruvembavai is the tenth day, which falls on Markali Thiruvathirai. According to an old verse of Paripaddal, girls on Markali Thiruvathirai find out from elderly women how to perform the rites for Ambavadal and then start off the rites bathing in cold water before dawn and praying that the world become cool with sufficient rains in their ceremony. The Bhagavada Purana also refers to a Karthiyayini fast performed in Markali by girls similar to the above one. The ceremony conducted by girls in favour of the Mother Goddess became extended to Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu irrespective of gender and age in later times. This "Markali bathing" is referred to in some ancient poems (Narrinai; Ainkurunury; Kalitthogai) as "Thai bathing" because after the full moon in mid Markali we get part of Markali and part of Thai, there giving license for both terms. Saivites recite the twenty verses of Thiruvembavai sung by Saint Manikkavasagar daily for ten days ending on Markali Thiruvathirai. Vaishnavites recite the thirty verses of Thiruppavai sung by Saint Andal, one daily for the whole month of Markali. The divine charioteer, Lord Krishna observed that he is Markali of the calendar months and Thiruvathirai of the stars in Bhagavad Gita.

ARDHRA DARSHAN: Saivites hold Markali Thiruvathirai as one of the most holiest days of Siva. Saint Thirugnana Sambandar singing to Poompavai asks whether she is going away without witnessing Athirai (Thirumarai). It is significant that one of the six anointing ceremonies of Lord Nadarajah takes place on this day. Further Lord Nadarajah comes out in a procession of this day to give Darshan to his devotees. In Sanskrit ‘Arthirai? is called ‘Ardhra?and the Thiruvathirai anointing ceremony is called Ardhra Abisheka and the Thiruvathirai viewing as Ardhra Darshan. It is held as a great achievement to be able to view Nadarajah’s procession on Markali Thiruvathirai in Chidambaram. Saivites from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) used to go in boats to Vedarniyam (Thirumaraikadu) and then to Chidambaram for this ceremony annually in olden days. Travel restrictions between India and Ceylon put an end to this annual Saivite trek from Ceylon. However lands and properties donated by Saivites in Ceylon to Chidambaram Nadarajah bear testimony to the attachment of Ceylon Saivites to Chidambaram and its Lord. There is a great festival in the ten days ending on Markali Thiruvathirai in Chidambaram. This will be followed by the anointing ceremony in the early hours of Markali Thiruvathirai. Then it will be followed by the procession of Lord Nadarajah with his consort to bless the multitude of devotees. Chendanar of Cheppurai sang the Thiru Pallandu decade so as to get the chariot, which stuck in the mud to move on a Thiruvathirai procession in Markali (Thiru Pallandu). His only decade forms one of the five hymns recited in Siva Temples even today. Nandanar’s ambition to get Arudhra Darshan saw no bounds. He was forced to go on postponing his departure day after day due to his subservience to his Master thereby earning for himself the name of Thiru Nalai Poovar. His story is the theme of a musical drama by Gopala Krishna Bharathi in the late 19th century. The hermits of Darukavanam, due to their arrogance, overlooked the peerless Lord Siva, paying no heed to the path of knowledge, followed the pathway of Karma (action) and performed a huge fire ceremony. The gracious Lord took the form of a beggar to enlighten them when he dropped in at the doorsteps of the hermits smitten by his Grace forgot what they were doing and followed him one after another. The hermits became furious and brought one of the five dreadful creatures to destroy the Lord. Lord Siva destroyed all of them and stood upon one of them (Muyalagan) and performed a Tandava dance enlightening the hermits who was the Lord of the universe. This darshan is said to have taken place on the Markali Thiruvathirai. Therefore viewing the procession of Nadarajah on this day is said to be very beneficial.

THIRUVATHIRAI KALI (MASHED FLOUR): Cendanar of Naukoor, a disciple of Paddinattu Adigal, used to eat only after feeding some Saiva devotees. Due to a constant bad weather he could not get together all the essentials for a proper meal. He had no option but to mix water with flour and prepare a mashed paste. Lord Siva understood his predicament. He wanted the people to know how sincere his devotee was to him. Therefore he disguised himself as a Siva devotee and visited Cendanar’s hut and enjoyed what was given to him as food. The temple attendants saw the premises scattered with the mashed paste the following morning. Inquiries led to an understanding of Cendanar’s piety and he was thereafter bestowed with all due respect. This incident took place in a Markali Thiruvathirai. This is why Thiruvathirai Kali forms an important prasad on this holy day.

FAMOUS SHIVA SHRINES: Next to Chidambaram, the Siva shrines at Perur, Kuttralum and Madurai are favours for this festival. In Sri Lanka, Karainagar Sivan temple called Eelattu Chidambaram has a great festival on this day. Below are picture clips of the Thiruvathirai festival at Arunachalaswarar Temple, Thiruannamalai.

Bhakti Sangamam – The meet at Tirupati – 25th January, 2008

2008-02-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

By S.V. Badri (Tirupati, India)

It was Bhagawan Balaji's Blessings that made the meeting a grand success. He tested us at every stage. Testing our Bhakti, as only He would of His Bhaktas. And when we surrendered to Him with folded hands, having no way to go, He showed us ways that only He can unfold. Let me cite one example for which I have no explanation than to credit it to His test of the Bhakta's devotion:
On the morning of the 24th January, when Kamal Kumar ji commenced his Padayatra to reach the Annapoorneshwari mandir in Tirupati, there was a call to him from one of the volunteers. Police offloaded some 50 of our Bhaktas from the Krishna Express at the Vijayawada Station and he was sounding panicky. Kamal ji said he would call back in five minutes. All that he could do was to turn towards the Seven Hills and pray to the Govinda to show us a way out, besides calling us to urge us to think of some way out.
In five minutes, there was a call from the same volunteer. He was very excited when he said that all of them are on board the train and are on the way to Tirupati. The simple Bhaktas who were offloaded shouted with their hands held high up in Pranam– "Govinda, Govinda", with the entire train repeating the chant, reverberating the Vijayawada station. The four constables who stopped them, folded their hands in absolute Bhakti and repeated –"Govinda, Govinda". The detainees were dutifully put back on train.
It appears that for the first time a saffron flag waved the train off from Vijayawada instead of the GREEN! Each square inch of the train was occupied by the Bhaktas. Many of them traveled standing for more than 17 hours of their journey. This surely is not a gathering for a political rally. Nor were the crowds paid for to attend rallies. We later came to know that for more than 98% of them, it is their FIRST visit to the Balaji Mandir, Tirupati. And we delighted that we could organize their Darshan with such dignity, reserved only for the VVIPs in Tirumala. Two days later, volunteers called us to tell that they were taken care of so well and compared the whole meet to their family wedding where guests are taken care with affection and dignity. Three district volunteers confirmed that their district would have a strength of 10,000 each for the next meet during Feb, 2008. The procession that started at 08-30 on 25 Jan was a splash of color and a blend of divine chants of Bhajans, Village folk art like Kolattam, flute, Nadaswaram and the frenzy of tribal drum beats reaching a crescendo. Two men were dressed as Kali and Durga. The endowment department was represented as the evil Mahisasura. And the act of Mahisasuravadham was enacted enroute the procession. There was Ram, Krishna, Hanuman; Vali and Sugreeva with their famous battle of mace, enacted in street play. The whole procession through 5 K.M. route was very thrilling and absolutely disciplined. People lined up in hundreds on both sides of the road, cheering the crowd as they moved on. Each participant was carrying the Saffron flag, the Dwaja. For the first time, the entire English and Vernacular Press, the Electronic Media gave extensive coverage of the meeting and the procession, with pictures splashed the next day and encouraging write-ups of the meet.
The meeting started at 11-30. I had the honor of reading out the "Anugraha Bhashanam" in Telugu, of the Kanchi Seers. The Acharyas expressed the need to protect our Mandirs. And stated that it is time that we started taking over our own Mandirs. They offered their Blessings to the Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samiti and urged the gathering to follow our Sanatana Dharma.
Pujyasri Aprameyanandagiri Swamiji, Vyasashram, Yerpedu expressed His solidarity with the movement. He offered His support and the Co-operation of Vyasashram in all the future activities of HDPS. Sri Arjun Dasji Maharaj, Mahant of Hathiram ji Matham, Tirumala stated that it is the duty of every Hindu to retrieve the Mandirs from the clutches of the evil endowment department. He emphasized the need for unity amongst us to run our own temples in the most efficient manner.
Sri Vrathadara Srinivasa Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamiji of Jaggannath Matham, Hyderabad spoke in chaste Hindi. He said that Hindus have become docile. Indifferent, to our causes. And that the need of the hour is to get aggressive on Hindu issues. He flayed the pseudo-seculars and said that the word secularism has been hijacked by the politicians and Press to mean anti-Hindu.
Sri Paripoornananda Saraswati Swamiji of Sri Peetham, Kakinada asked the assembled Bhaktas – Can't we send 270 "good Hindus" to our Assembly and to our Parliament? Are we so stupid that we allow even the so called Hindu parties to keep fooling us all the time, by becoming silent to Hindu issues even after coming to power? He cited the example of BJP who failed the Hindu voters by stating that they had to abide by coalition Dharma after getting Hindus to vote for them. He said that He would have been happy had the party quit the government stating the partners are NOT for Hindu causes and that BJP would like the voters to give them a majority of their own to take up genuine Hindu causes. He expressed his happiness that this meet is taking the dalits to the Govinda and not the other way around as is being done by the TTD. He said that the TTD should work out with the government to transport Bhaktas like these, free of cost once in two or three years and ensure they get good darshan of the Bhagawan. He questioned the Haj subsidy while no move is made by the government to reach the poorest or poor and the most backwards to Govinda, the ultimate God of Kali Yuga.
Dr Subramanian Swamy spoke in Hindi. Since the majority of the people in the audience are from the Telengana and Hindi speaking areas, they could appreciate his message. Dr Swamy spoke briefly on Ram Setu and said how he could succeed in the Supreme Court and obtain a stay of the dredging. This was received with a thunderous applause and shouts of "Jai Sri Ram". He said that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ignored his advice and he had to go to court. Similarly he would move the court if the Andhra Chief Minister refuses to understand the demands of the Hindu society to restore the Mandirs to the Samaj, by dismantling the Endowment Act and the Department. He told the audience that he will be shortly leading a delegation to meet the CM as also the leader of Opposition in AP, Mr Chandrababu Naidu on the issue of Mandirs in AP. Sri Stephen Knapp, Vedic Friends Association, USA spoke on why he became a Hindu, though being born to Christian parents. He briefly narrated his early years when he could find no answers to all his questions in all the major religions in the world and how only Sanatana Dharma could answer all his nagging doubts. He told a cheering audience that he has been practicing Hindu for the last 40 years. His lament was that Hindus in America had more freedom to practice their religion than Hindus in the land of birth of this great religion, because of such discriminatory laws and anti-Hindu governments, ironically led by Hindus in many cases. He said that it is the duty of Hindus that they should never allow this great Punyabhoomi to such a fall that they should start importing Hindu dharma from abroad, where there is so much freedom to practice. Sri Velagapudi Prakasa Rao, Chairman, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, USA and world wide, the organization that supported the Maha Padayatra and the meet spoke of the need for the Pada Yatra, what it had achieved. He explained the support of the Foundation in the cause of retrieving our Mandirs from the Government clutches
back to the Hindu Samaj. He said that the Foundation will stand by the activities of HDPS and would ensure that we stay focused on our goal.
Sri Yalamanchi Prasad Rao, Secretary, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation made a very emotional appeal to the Hindus to come together in the fight against the unjust Department. He introduced the Kali, Durga and other artists by calling them to the stage where they regaled the audience with a spirited Nrtya to the mind-boggling rhythm of the tribal beats.
Sri Dussarla Satyanarayana, President Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samiti, Telangana Region brought the house down with his most eloquent call for dismantling the Endowment department. He was very critical of successive governments that openly had an anti-Hindu slant. He said it is time to question ourselves should we vote such anti-Hindu people back to power. As a powerful tribal leader, his voice carried much weight as we could see and the crowd roared at every word that he spoke.
Sri Kamal Kumar ji spoke at the end. He shared few of his experiences during his 130 day 3200 Km Maha Pada Yatra. He made following vital points: The Government should state firmly that it would not add any new Mandirs to the list of Mandirs already under its control under the Endowment Act. It should instantly stop public auction and or sale of Mandir lands in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The Fixed Deposits of money belonging to various Mandirs have suddenly vanished because of withdrawals by the Department. The government should immediately replenish the funds and restore it to the rightful Mandirs. The sale proceeds received by the Government so far by the sale of lands belonging to the Mandirs have not been credited to the Mandir Accounts. The Government should pay to these Mandirs the amounts as per today's market value and not on any notional value. Kamal Kumarji announced a cheering audience that his second Maha Padayatra will commence during August, 2008 and will take him through innumerable villages. He will commence his Yatra from Srikakulam District and will travel through the districts of Vijayanagaram, East Godavari, Khammam, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor and will culminate at Tirupati. He will be reaching Tirupati during the first week of February, 2009. 5000 Kms in all.
One lakh very simple Bhaktas will converge at Tirupati. I am sure we will be geared up to receive all of them. We have already identified the open ground which will be our venue for the meet.
You have a lot of time to plan your itinerary. Be there at Tirupati. Strengthen our cause. I shall write in a separate article, the follow-up and consolidation work that we intend doing, the brief plan for the second Yatra and what we intend taking up during our meet with the AP Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition, A.P. around 15th Feb, 2008.
Tail piece:
Each Bhakta on the Padayatra to Tirumala carried one Saffron Dwaja as he/she marched valiantly in one group. When these Bhaktas went to Alipiri, the foot-hill of the Sapthagiri, they were stopped by over-zealous TTD security. The reason being that they were carrying the Saffron Dwaja in hands. "No political rallies" – was the diktat. We had to step in vociferously and educate the TTD employees and the security that these are NOT political flags, but Hindu religious symbols – the Dwaja of Bhagawan Krishna. After a few minutes of "convincing" , we were allowed to proceed, EACH one with a Dwaja in hand to Tirumala! Perhaps, another first.

Namaste, S V Badri
Camp: Tirupati

Happy Galungan Day for Balinese Hindu

2008-01-21T05:15:00.000-08:00

Next Wednesday, January 23, 2008, Balinese Hindu will celebrate Dharma Victorious Day called Galungan. It is celebrated every 210 days of ordinary calendar or a period of Balinese Calendar. The series days of celebrating Galungan had been started a week ago, there was Sugihan Bali, Sugihan Jawa, Penyajaan, Pengejukan Day, Penampahan and finally Galungan Day. The process is completely full of philosophical meaning where each Hindu in Bali should show their respect to The Almighty God and their ancestor. Each step of the series is internally a form of the microcosm cleanliness. They started with remembering their ancestor, pray and devote for the eternal release of their souls. It is a kind of self introspection that we are in the circle of Karma Law. Then, there is penampahan (killing or butchering). It has a deep meaning of conquering ourself from badness. We remove every enemies in ourself. We do sacrifice to balance the nature from any harms.

And then, comes a victorious day of Galungan. The moment where we conquer Dharma upon Adharma. There is a legend about this victorious day. Where God Indra, in the form of, Sangkul Putih (white Priest) defeated Maya Denawa (king of demons). Next time, we will tell the complete story in this sharing forum. We do hope that every Coordinator in Hindu Coordination Center will have their own sharing celebration for Hindu everywhere in this planet.

In Bali, Galungan is celebrating gloriously. Every house has to put a Penjor, high curved bambo with offering ornaments as the symbol of Mount Agung, the highest mountain in Bali. It is believed as the stana of Siva. Penjor will connect devotion sign of the people to God. They put some harvest as the symbol of people thanks to God of welfare and prosperity given. They will pray in their family temples. They gather to share and show family love.

The day after Galungan, people will visit each other to form a close relation as God creation. They will be in joyful, happy and forgiving day.

Happy Galungan Day for Balinese Hindu all over the world. May God, Ida Sanghyang Widhi Wasa bless us with peace, happiness and prosperity physically and mentally.

Current Information from Lampung

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Diseases Attack & Development of Hindu Ashram

Bratasena is a plantation area located in seaside far from city crowded. It takes 3.5 hours by boat to go there from Bandar Lampung (Sumatra, Indonesia). There are total 10,000 people working there as outsourcing employees. They are 3,400 people are in the field as a fishermen and more than 5.000 people are farmers and office staffs around the area.
From all the employees, there are 1.000 Hindus where 800 of them are as company employees and 200 rest are working as farmers around the area. The water is so salty which is not suitable for cooking. People around the area fulfill their need of drinking water from low quality distilled water. There is no food examination for the canteen product. Moreover, the surround temperature could reach -10 degree Celsius.
Recruitment of new employees should be healthy tested to be free of hepatitis virus cause it would be affected to products which are for export purpose. Currently, an epidemic diseases is spreading in this area. It is mostly spread among employees in the plantation. The diseases attacked heart function, it is known as liver or yellow disease or hepatitis.
Many Hindus are also attacked by this diseases. It affects to religious activities they usually held either occasionally or regularly. One of those activities is developing an ashram building and its facilities. It is then financially disturbed. This development had been planned from long time ago. The purpose of developing this building is to be a Hindu center for children, youth and elders to learn and maintain their faith. They mostly do not have a religion lesson in their school, college or university, so that they do a Sunday class for this subject. There are more than 100 Hindus need the better place and facility. For temporary, they get their Hindu lesson in a very simple places in public area around the plantation.
Until now, there is no attention and any help from government or the company where they and their family are working to overcome diseases problem.

Hindu Coordination In Australia

2008-01-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

Hindu Council of Australia (HCA)

The Hindu Council of Australia Ltd. (HCA) is an umbrella organisation representing the interest of all Hindus living in Australia, irrespective of their caste or country of origin. The following are some of the objectives of HCA:

To articulate issues that concern Hindus at the local, state and national levels in Australia.
To negotiate with the government at all levels or other organisations/ associations in matters related to Hindu culture and religion.
To organise functions, festivals etc promoting Hindu culture and religion to foster cooperation among participating organisations.
To act as a non-political, non-sectarian, non-profit organisation to promote legitimate social, cultural, educational and religious needs of Hindus in Australia.
To support the establishment of any charitable institution for the benefit of Hindus and the overall community.
To function as an information source for schools, general community concerning Hindu philosophy, culture and religion.
To print and publish books, leaflets etc to promote the activities of the Hindu Council.
To arrange seminars, conventions, conferences etc to promote better understanding of Hindu culture and religion.
To help members of the Hindu community against inappropriate or unjustifiable treatment in matters of issuance of visas for priests, dignitaries and speakers for conferences etc.
Represent the Hindu community at official functions such as the opening of parliament and Australia Day celebrations.
Assist in dealing with the media, written and visual, in regard to possible problems such as the publication or broadcasting of material offensive to the Hindu community.
To present a unified Hindu viewpoint on various current social issues relevant to the Australian multicultural society at conferences and in submissions to government institutions.
To organise conferences, symposia etc nationally and overseas and to represent such meetings on behalf of local associations.
To publicise the existence of the council by advising the media, local councils and state and federal governments.

Hindu Coordination In Africa

2008-01-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

African Council Mobilizes
In early June, 2003, Shri Muljibhai Pindolia, president of the Kenya based Hindu Council in Africa (HCA), toured Hindu institutions in the West African nations of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. He sought to mobilize Hindu institutions to form national bodies that would join the HCA for continent-wide coordination. He began the tour in Accra, Ghana, praising Swami Ghananand Saraswati, head of Ghana's Hindu Monastery, for his excellent work. Of the 12,500 Hindus in Ghana, 10,000 are, like Swami himself, indigenous Africans. The leaders of Ghana's Hindu institutions were enthusiastic about Pindolia's plan. It was proposed that the Accra national body could be the coordination center for Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Chad. Muljibhai then went to Togo and Benin, ending his tour at Lagos, the former capitol of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and home for most of Nigeria's 25,000 Hindus. Gathering all Hindus in Africa's 53 nations under one umbrella is a daunting task, and Pindolia's hands-on, personal visit approach to his organizational efforts were widely appreciated.

Children Activities in Malang

2007-12-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

As Reported By Sugiarti (East Java Coordinator)

A small ashram was established to maintain the faith of young Hindu generation in East Java, Malang Regency. The Coordinator for East Java, Sugiarti, reported that such activities were held temporarily to keep the children strong in Hinduism. Some temples are used to hold the activities. One of them is Wukir Rtawu Luhur in Malang. Hindu children live nearby doing many religious activities in the temple.
As seen in the picture, they attended the small and simple ashram every Sunday in the temple area. The materials and lessons they got are vary. From religion matters, culture, custom and tradition until ethics of being Hindu.
The method instructors used mostly adapted from formal school where there was an interactive discussion between instructors and children.

Book Information Of Hinduism

2007-12-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

What Is Hinduism?

Modern Adventures into a Profound Global Faith

A rare inside look at the world's most venerable and vibrant religion, revealed in forty-six illustrated journeys into an intriguing realm of temples, Deities, yoga, philosophy, gurus, tolerance and family life. Buy it now.

This is the book your family has been waiting for. It is recommended for every Hindu home.

Reviews

Vivek Iyer, Minnesota I don't think any words can do justice to your most noble cause and values. I have never seen such a transparent and spiritual site as yours. I was brought up thinking of Hinduism as a series of rituals. On reading your book "What is Hinduism?" I was introduced to this wonderfully and beautifully written text about Hinduism. We have regular temple sessions called "Hindu Chintan Kendra" and are using your book to promote understanding of our faith. Each week one member of the group reads a chapter (in sequence) and explains the chapter to the rest of the group. We then have a free flowing conversation about different spiritual and practical questions as they come up. I feel truely enlightened at the end of each discussion. We are now up to chapter 22."

Rakesh Bhandari, anesthesiologist in London, Canada who teaches medical students and is very passionate about proper pain control in medicine. He said many doctors don't provide proper pain control. He loved the medical ethics section, especially on pain management. He said excitedly, "I now have support from my roots for what I do every day."

"I ordered six books and I would like to order 100 more. Fantastic Book. It's helped me explain my roots to myself and to people who are interested in the mother of all civilizations--Hinduism. It's the best book I have seen in last 30 years on this topic. And it is contemporary and people can relate to all that is in the book. I have given it to my kids, I have given it to some of my friends and to everyone I meet I like to give this book. The book is so wonderful you can just pick anywhere and read."

Prakash Krishna"I have been regular subscriber to HT and even visited the holy temple in Kauai last December. I plan to give copies of this book to all friends as a gift. The idea is that I want them to use this as an educational tool for their young children, and make those kids proud of their rich and living heritage. Such an identity will help them clearly navigate, and perhaps clear the misconceptions in the American school system and society at large. -- Love and Peace "

Banyen Book Review, April 2007: "Since 1979 the international magazine Hinduism Today has been producing a treasury of educational features--"Insights"--which were conceived to dispel myths and illumine key aspects of Hindu wisdom, esoteric knowledge, teachings and practices. Guided by the founder, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the magazine's editors, who are initiated monks of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, collaborated with holy men and women and experts around the world in creating graphically rich guides to virtually every important aspect of Hinduism. The best of those works are assembled in What is Hinduism? for Hindus and non-Hindus alike to discover the culture, beliefs, worship and mysticism that is India's greatest gift to humanity.

"Divided into sections on "The Nature of Hinduism," "Hindu Metaphysics," "How Hindus Worship," "Spiritual Practices," "Family Life and Culture," and "Hindu Ethics," this sumptuously illustrated book takes readers both verbally and visually deep into the lore, lifeways, and worldview of Hinduism, the great core from which Yoga arose. Many pithy source-texts are quoted from the vast ocean of scriptures, including the Vedas, Agamas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, bhakti literature, etc. to bring home the truths in this stunning visual encyclopedia of practical Hinduism."

Local Hindu Coordination Center Guidelines

2007-12-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

By Rajesh Mudholkar

The Hindu Coordination Center (HCC) is primarily formed to coordinate the activities of various existing Hindu organizations and it has no President, secretary or office bearers but has coordinators. All persons joining the movement shall be coordinators contributing their work by taking up coordination activity in one or more spheres.
The basic Coordination Center for every Postal Code will be established ( for example in India for postal code 400601 the center will be HCC400601. ). This center will be responsible for collecting data and compiling and utilizing the information for achieving the objects of the HCC and planning further activities and providing input for global analysis. A coordination center for a pin code area shall be designated as LHCC local Hindu coordination center, its scope of work will depend on the population and requirements of the area. Every LHCC coordinator shall first collect the following data:

Area covered by the postal code for the LHCC.
Total Population of this area and Hindu population.
Total Hindu organizations and ashrams operative in the area and their committee and members strength and names and theiractivities.
Total Hindu temples of the area and their committee members, activities of temples both religious and social and their plans for further development and information of regular festivals.
Total schools , Institutions both private and government in the area and Hindu schools and institutions in the area and their strength. Children and women and senior citizen shelter homes in the area.
Prominent persons in the locality who can guide the coordination effort like social workers, doctors, lawyers, professors, businessmen, chartered accountants and others.
List out facilities for religious and social Hindu functions and ceremonies, persons performing such ceremonies and suppliers of religious articles, religious musicians, singers, dancers, preachers, yoga teachers.
Views of the community and their expectations from the coordination effort and temples and organizations for spiritual and social and economic strength of Hindu community. Problems faced by the community if any.
The coordinator will persuade the existing organizations to start religious training centers for children to teach them religious principles, develop their personality and make them well informed for becoming good civil citizen.
Where ever possible guidance will be given for starting a Hindu Day care Center for children who cannot be looked after by parents due to their service or business.
The coordinator will share this information amongst other coordinators.
The coordinator shall ask each of the existing organization, temple, community forum etc to depute one person from them on LHCC and a meeting of al such representatives be held as per requirement and at least every month to share information and plan further activities.
Such other activities as the situation requires will be undertaken by mutual discussion at local level.
Coordinators can be designated for specific purpose like temple coordinators, educational coordinators, community coordinators, cultural coordinators etc.
LHCC shall also try to maintain a database of various talent available in academic, technical, social, religious, art etc and create awareness in employment and business opportunities for community members.

Object and Mission of The Center

2007-12-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

By Rajesh Mudholkar

Every mission has an object so that the activity gets guided by the spirit directed to attaining the goal. So always remember the object. The world is full of wonders. The extremes in the nature from hot volcanoes to ice covered poles and fertile plains to deserts make one wonder at such variations. The diversity in nature is also found repeated in human race across the globe. It is for us to diligently make way and build a well coordinated activity that will create a platform for all humanity based Hindu missions to coordinate and have an even distribution of help for the needy. To set up a coordination base in every locality in every country which will provide information on wide subjects through local database and service coordination, a base for building social support system for Hindus in an area and links worldwide. To provide opportunity for participation of all in building a peaceful and sustainable world and to wipe out hatred and violence by promoting Universal Hindu values of peace, tolerance and understanding and mercy and develop an attitude of concern for cause of all humanity and environment.

The principal objects of the coordination center: To start a movement to coordinate all Hindu organizations, temples, institutes, groups, activities and Hindu people worldwide and maintain a comprehensive Hindu database.

Our mission:

A central Hindu information directory for every postal code worldwide including spiritual, educational, economic, technical, medical, vocational skills in Hindu community.
Hindu Sanskar Kendra (Hindu Cultural Center) in every locality by coordinating existing Hindu organizations.
Establishing, helping schools and colleges and technical training institutes and Universities for Hindu youth with training in Hindu religious teachings.
Hindu temples coordination and temple renovation, proper scheme for management of temples and utilization of temple funds for protection and propagation of Hindu religion and upliftment of unprivileged section of Hindu people.
Coordination for proper interaction and mutual help worldwide amongst Hindu community with equality for all Hindu people.
Every city, town, village and locality to have a Hindu Coordination council to coordinate the work of Hindu organizations .
Modern day care children centers in urban and rural areas to be replaced by Hindu day care centers where children can be taken care of during day and Hindu cultural values can be taught with Sanskrit shlokas, prayers in local languages and stories from Hindu Scriptures can be told.

Introduction Description Of Hindu Coordination Center

2007-12-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

By Mr. Rajesh Mudholkar
We are glad to announce that the work of International Hindu Coordination Center has begun. Centers are being established in all parts of the world. Vishwa Hindu Smanwaya (International Hindu Coordination) is global Hindu coordination movement. The Hindu community across the globe is in need of a coordination mechanism for interaction and communication and support. The Hindu community across the world is proud to have various traditions that are rich with devotion, discipline and compassion and in spite of diversity they ultimately converge to a sole truth the ultimate one. In this process care is taken of human beings along with environment. There are thousands of Hindu Organizations across the world and tremendous spiritual activity and energy is generated but it is scattered for want of coordination. The Hindus being peace loving and moderate need protection and support from within the community. Each of us must attempt to help our community as much as possible. Coordination is thus a key to Hindu success in Religion, Education and Commerce. The coordination is based on principle of equality of all people of Hindu community. Every Hindu person is divine and destined for salvation. Birth of every person as Hindu or realization of Hindu philosophy by any person is a sign of progress to salvation. We all must therefore study our Hindu religion and understand the thought processes and find the common thread that binds us all. Hindu coordination center is answer to our current situation

A Call From Kediri, East Java

2007-12-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

Agus Hartono, New Volunteer To Be A Kediri Regency Coordinator

This morning, at 5.30 local time of Denpasar, Bali, I got a morning call from Kediri, East Java. The greeting was a Hindu specific greeting, "Om Swastyastu". His name is Agus Hartono, he again offer himself to be a coordinator for Kediri. What a very fast communication. He explained about his meeting with Ms. Sugiarta, the coordiantor in Malang. She told everything about Hindu Coordination Center.
I was very happy that more and more people in our Hindu community especially youth realize the importance of building a coordinator group to communicate each other and create an useful activity for Hindu. He asked many things about HCC, and he invited me to come to Kediri, for socializing this coordination center. He has gathered with young Hindu in Kediri from each district to join this coordination team.
I am completely impressed how he then said that all of them agreed voluntarily to join as volunteer and coordinator. They will send the list and details about the members.
It is a good progress, my friend......, Bali, Malang, Lampung, and now Kediri has stated and found the coordinator team for our group. It is time to spread over the world and we want many information related our Hindu community in news and activities. It is time to CARE not only SEE and HEAR. Thank you.

HCC In Malang, East Java

2007-12-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

The Coordination Center of Malang is Headed By A Woman

Sugiarti is the one of the potential Hindu woman. The graduation of Master in Hindu Philosophy of Hindu Dharma Institute of Denpasar, now voluntarily offered herself to be one of the Hindu Coordinator in Malang, east Java, Indonesia. She was very courageous when the Indonesian HCC team explained about our mission and vision to build a better prosperous Hindu. She convinced the team by showing her last activities in Malang to serve Hindu in faith and spiritual teaching. Her dedication to the Hindu could be a model for other Hindu generation in Indonesia to maintain the belief and the Dharma teaching well.
She, together with Mr. Nyoman, now are running a Hindu Foundation to serve and help people understand better about Hindu. Her motivation is to get Hindu back in her region, Malang. As we know that Malang was the central of Hindu Kingdom, Singosari, in the past time. She believe that most Hindu in Malang were formerly not Hindu, because they did not know that they have been converted smoothly into other religion.
They both open an Ayur Vedic treatment and healing for people in Malang. They practically are recognized by some Malang people as a very pleasant personality. They never see people in their background as they believe that Hindu always teaches peace and humanity in the first portion of their daily life.
We, HCC Team, internationally or nationally, do hope that She can do her best to be a coordinator in the area where Hindu become minority. Good luck, Ms. Sugiarti, God bless you.

Cooperation Between Sabha Yowana Bali and Bali India Friendship Club

2007-12-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

It was a big surprise for Balinese Hindu Youth Organization or Sabha Yowana Bali, because they got an official visit from Bali India Friendship Club on November 14, 2007. The BIFC team was headed by Mr. Rajesh Mudholkar came to Bali to reroute the history relation between India and Indonesia especially Bali. This historical moment then used by them to form a Bali India Friendship Club as the basic group to the existence of International Hindu Coordination Center.
Mr. Rajesh said that in the near future we could do many thing to tighten our chain of past relation. Hindu as the way of life for most of their population had been strengthen cultural and social life from both region.
In the same time, the head of Sabha Yowana Bali, Mr. Ida Bagus Gede Wirawibawa Mantra, emphasized about the importance of those relation. He, as one of the son of former Indonesian Ambassador for India - Prof. Dr. Ida Bagus Mantra (dec), hoped that the relation was not for visit only, but it should more than that. He saw that many opportunities in Bali that could be used by BIFC to help people to increase their quality of living physically and spiritually.
They both agreed to develop Hindu Coordination Center as the first step to form a real movement to Hindu community especially in Bali. Sabha Yowana is a partner of BIFC in Bali to socialize and structurally form the board of HCC LOM Bali.
BIFC Team also had the chance to see the Mecaru Ceremony, one of the five sacrifice ceremony Balinese Hindu had (called Panca Yajna - Dewa Yajna, Pitra Yajna, Rsi Yajna, Manusa Yajna and Bhuta Yajna).

International Hindu Coordination Center Formed in Bali

2007-12-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

A Place to Communicate and Share Among Hindu Around The Globe

As the progress of information technology has been improved, many Hindus are aware to communicate each other all over the world through an internet media. The communication is then opened in front of us. It then breaks the borders existed among us. We are one in principle of life but appreciate the cultural richness had in each different places over this planet. We can share any information related to our greatest community of diversity.
Our commitment to improve our human resources quality and increase the prosperity level for Hindu anywhere in this planet. We have the same voice to speak out with our other brothers. We want the equality and say no to discrimination in any form. We have the same right to develop ourselves spiritually. Peace and truth are keywords to create world harmony. And we proved it thousands of thousands years. Veda is our basic manual guide to be followed. Dharma is the truth, and it is the law of this universe.
Realizing that we mostly live in different geographical part of the world, we need a window and a door to know and see other community problems. We can not just live alone and individualist because under the same Dharma umbrella we shelter together to reach our personal goal. Then some of us start to make a new simple group to coordinate our closest Hindu community to get their faithful life.
This group then we called Hindu Coordination Center, a place to share among us. Step by step, it will be the model of our community to walk across the ocean of diversity. We appreciate local culture, we do not want to touch it. We are protecting local cultural richness but we enrich then with the great teaching of Veda.
It is formally formed by Mr. Ida Bagus Ketut Susena (Bali, Indonesia) and Mr. Rajesh Mudholkar (India). They are both supported by Indian and Balinese team to declare the group formally. It would concentrate on data center for Hindu community around. education and yoga center, humah right, temple protection, prosperity and of course cultural protection.