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Showing posts from April 12, 2007


Vaishno Devi Ladoos and Economic Empowerment of Women

The ladoos (sweet) that are given as ‘prasad’ (offering) in the famous Vaishno Devi temple is slowly transforming the financial fortune of Parthal village, which is two kilometer from the shrine. Thanks to Dr Anil P Joshi of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), who during one of his visits to the shrine noticed that the ‘ladoos’ distributed in the shrine came from far flung urban centers and thought about changing it. Raju William writes in Tribune Anil P Joshi said “At the shrine, I noticed that prasad offered here was prepared and brought from outside urban centers, so I thought why can’t this be prepared by the rural folks, especially women of the area by equipping them with technology evolved by my organization to process the local farm produce. To me, this seemed as a sure way of providing employment to them.” So, this village nearest to the shrine was chosen for the purpose after assessing the economic condition of its people. He t

Open Air Hindu Cremation Issue in Britain

Cremation laws in the United Kingdom do not permit open air cremations like the one practiced in Hinduism. A recent attempt to establish an open air cremation site was blocked by the Newcastle City Council. Davender Kumar Ghai, a 68-year-old practicing Hindu, challenged the council order in the court and demanded the right to be cremated on an open-air pyre when he died. A High Court has approved to take up the Judicial Review petition. But no date has been set for the Judicial Review petition. Times of India reports Davendar Kumar Ghai, founder and president of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society, created headlines last July when he arranged the first human funeral pyre in Britain since the Home Office authorised the outdoor cremation of Sumshere Jung, a Nepalese princess and the