After Pashupatinath, Bhagavad Gita is targeted in Nepal

September 16th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Maoists re-opened the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) office of centuries-old Pashupatinath Temple here on Tuesday. It was locked about two weeks ago after the two Indian priests were beaten up.

September 15th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who Tuesday wound up her two-day Nepal visit with a trip to the revered Pashupatinath temple here, said the Nepal government has reassured her protection for the two newly-appointed Indian priests there. "The government of Nepal has assured me that they have taken all necessary measures to ensure the security and well-being of Indian priests and continuation of regular prayers at the temple," Rao told mediapersons.

September 6th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Forty-eight hours after the attack on Indian priests at Nepal's hallowed Pashupatinath temple and the ensuing outcry in India, protests against the appointments still continued Sunday with a sect calling itself the 'sons' of the Hindu deity vowing they would keep up the fight for their right. Hundreds of people blocked the way to the 5th century shrine in the morning and shouted slogans against the appointment of two Indian priests who were initiated into their duties Saturday amidst unprecedented security.

September 5th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Smarting under the continuing attacks on Indian priests and the allegation that they were siphoning off the offerings made by devotees at the altar of Pashupatinath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, the chief priest at the temple said he and his ilk were ready to go back to India. Mahabaleshwar Bairy, the chief priest at the revered fifth century temple and the only person allowed to touch the deity, told the government that if Nepalis did not want Indian priests at the shrine, he and the four other Indian priests appointed there were ready to return home.

September 5th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood Saturday regretted that religion - which brings the people of India and Nepal together - was under fire on the ground of nationality. He was reacting to the assault on two Indian priests at the famed Pashupatinath temple here.

September 5th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Amid mounting concern and condemnation by the Indian government, Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Saturday stepped into the Pashupatinath temple row, promising tough action against those who had attacked and stripped two Indian priests inside the 5th century shrine the day before. While Nepal sent Culture Minister Minendra Rijal to the shrine Saturday morning to watch over the initiation of newly appointed Indian priests Girish Bhatt and Raghavendra Bhatt, the premier also said during the inauguration of a hospital in the city that the opposition Maoist party was trying to foment trouble.

September 4th, 2009 Hindus have strongly criticized attempts to regulate yoga by various states in USA. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy whose traces went back to around 2000 BCE.

June 16th, 2009 KATHMANDU - It is available in languages as diverse as Hebrew and Hungarian. Now the Bhagvad Gita - a scriptural classic that provides the essence of Hindu philosophy - has been rendered in an ancient tribal language still spoken in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

May 3rd, 2009 Carson City (Nevada, USA), April 06: Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures opened the Nevada State Assembly session here today. After sprinkling Gangajal (holy water brought from river Ganga in India) around the podium, acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed started and ended the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

May 3rd, 2009 City Council of Sparks, one of the fastest growing city of Nevada (USA), reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures for the first time on Monday since its formation in 1905. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before Sparks City Council today after sprinkling holy water from river Ganga (in India).

March 23rd, 2009 RAE BARELI - Speaking out against her cousin Varun Gandhi's inflammatory comments, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka suggested he read 'the Gita properly'. 'I would advise him to read the Gita properly and try to understand it,' Priyanka Vadra told reporters here.

February 23rd, 2009 KATHMANDU - Every year, the important Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri sees hundreds of thousands of devotees flocking to the revered temple of Pashupatinath here. This time, the serpentine queue of blessing seekers included those praying that a Nepali origin singer wins the popular 'Indian Idol' contest in the neighbouring nation.

January 7th, 2009 KATHMANDU - While the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, decided to drop his plans to seek the blessing of Lord Pashupatinath due to the mounting dispute over the hallowed shrine under Nepal's Maoist government, the prince of India's tinsel town Govinda is all set to pray at the deity's feet. The actor and dancer par excellence, who hit the headlines this month over his role in Bollywood director Jagmohan Mundra's 'Naughty at 40', has reportedly checked into an upmarket hotel in Kathmandu.

January 6th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Though the growing dispute over the ouster of Indian priests at Nepal's revered Pashupatinath temple has saddened some Indians, it would however not hurt India-Nepal ties, India's top envoy in Nepal has said. Rakesh Sood, India's ambassador to Nepal, said that Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has pledged that his government would obey the orders of the Supreme Court in this regard.

January 4th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The youth wing of Nepal's main opposition party Monday joined the fray over the ouster of Indian priests at the revered Pashupatinath temple, saying they were ready to cross swords with the Maoists. Mahendra Yadav, chief of Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party, Monday issued a statement saying his organisation was ready to wage a struggle for faith.