Page 149 - Religion Belief
Tokyo Sarin attack: Executed Japanese cult leader cremated
The remains of Shoko Asahara, founder of the Supreme Truth sect, were cremated on Monday here after he was executed for perpetrating the Tokyo subway nerve gas attacks in 1995.
SC bans outsiders from offering namaz in Taj mosque
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow outsiders to offer 'namaz' at a mosque in the Taj Mahal premises, saying the historic monument, which is one of the seven wonders of the world, "must be protected".
Taj must be protected; no namaz allowed inside: SC
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow outsiders to offer 'namaz' at a mosque inside the Taj Mahal premises, saying the historic monument, which is one of the seven wonders of the world "must be protected".
Taj Mahal among seven wonders, don't want it to be decimated: SC
People, who are not the residents of Agra, would not be allowed to enter a mosque located inside the Taj Mahal complex to offer Friday prayers, the Supreme Court ordered today, while rejecting a plea saying the monument was one of the seven wonders of the world and it cannot be "decimated". A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan observed that there were several other mosques in Agra and the non-residents could offer the customary prayers there. The direction came when the apex court was hearing a plea challenging a January 24 order of Agra's Additional District Magistrate (City) barring non-residents from offering Friday prayers in the mosque on the ground of security of Taj Mahal. "This (Taj Mahal) is one of the seven wonders of the world and we do not want this to decimate. We are dismissing it (plea)," the bench said. At the outset, the bench asked "why for such prayers, should they go to the Taj Mahal?" "We are not entertaining this (plea)," the bench said, adding, "there
Madrasa expels student for applying tilak, acting in short film
A fifth standard student of a madrasa in northern Kerala has been expelled for reportedly applying chandana kuri (sandalwood paste) on her forehead and acting in a short film, as a section of the community termed the act unislamic. The matter was brought to light through a Facebook post written by the student's father, Ummer Malayil. Malayil said his daughter had got an opportunity to act in a short film in which she played the role of a non-Muslim in two or three scenes. She had sported a 'chandana kuri' in the film which apparently irked the madrasa authorities, resulting in her expulsion from the school, the father said. He said his daughter and son have been shifted to another madrasa. As the issue triggered a debate on social media, Malayil in another post wondered why the religious institution took a stern decision only against his daughter as he claimed other children had also applied the sandalwood tilak' and participated in Thiruvathira Kalli, a popular dance form of ...
Bishops call for 3-day fasting after Duterte says God stupid
Philippine Catholic bishops have called for fasting and prayers after the president called God "stupid" and questioned God's existence in profane remarks that set the foul-mouthed leader on a collision course with Asia's largest Catholic church. Archbishop Romulo Valles, who heads the country's association of bishops, called for a day of prayers on July 16 to invoke "God's mercy and justice on those who have blasphemed God's holy name, those who slander and bear false witness and those who commit murder or justify murder as a means for fighting criminality." Valles asked Filipino Catholics to join bishops in three more days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving starting on July 17. Duterte has had a thorny relationship with Catholic bishops, who have criticized his bloody anti-drug crackdown and vulgar language.
Jagannath Temple issue should be left to pontiffs: Pradhan
Commenting on the Supreme Court's order on the Jagannath temple, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said the matter should be left to the pontiffs.Pradhan said, "Sensitive issues connected to sentiments of a large section of society shouldn't be dealt with hurriedly. This should be left to Shankaracharya and Gajapati Maharaja."A division bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and also comprising Justice Abdul Nazeer, stated in its interim order that the temple's management committee will consider whether members of other religions will be allowed to visit the temple subject to regulations.
S Korean Prez Moon Jae-in visits Akshardham temple, praises its architecture
South Korean President Moon Jae-in today kicked-off his India tour with a visit to the Akshardham temple here and said the two countries may have different cultures but share common values such as peace, harmony and unity in diversity. The president, accompanied by his wife Kim Jung-sook, arrived at the sprawling temple premises this evening from the Delhi airport and spent an hour there, admiring its iconic architecture and listening to the stories behind it design. The two visiting dignitaries entered the temple premises through its beautiful Bharat Upwan, and were welcomed with garlands, a 'tika' and 'kalwa' (holy thread) on the wrist in front of the Mayur Swagat Dwar by Sadhu Gnanmunidas, Swami of the temple. "I am very delighted to visit this grand temple as part of the first leg of my visit. After, seeing this, the feeling that I get is that India and Korea may be having different cultures, but the two countries share commonalities in values such as peace, harmony and unity in ..
We believe in Adityanath's assurance on Ram Temple: VHP
International vice-president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Champatrai today expressed "full faith" in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's assurance that the Ram Temple will be built soon in Ayodhya but urged people to have patience. "VHP is determined on the issue of Ram Temple. We know Lord Rama was born in Ayodhya and it is also true that there was a temple where he is virajmaan now. We cannot let Ayodhya turn into a Muslim university or an Islamic centre," he told reporters in Gorakhpur, the home turf of Adityanath. "The way in which the chief minister has made us believe that soon Ram Temple will be constructed in Ayodhya, I have full faith in him that it will happen. We need to have patience," he said. He said Adityanath has also assured seers on the matter. "The structure which was demolished was not constructed according to the beliefs of Islam," he said. Claiming that no research has been done on cows since Independence, Champatrai demanded that a separate cow ministry ..
AP, Telangana new CJ offers prayers at Tirumala hill temple
Justice T B N Radhakrishnan, the new Chief Justice of the High Court of Hyderabad,today offered prayers at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala. Justice Radhakrishnan, accompanied by his family, arrived here last evening on a one day pilgrimage,temple sources said. After getting his head tonsured as a fulfillment vow, the Chief Justice and his family visited the hill shrine and offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara this morning, they said. Justice Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on July 7.
Servitors meet CM, discuss proposed entry of non-Hindus to Puri Temple
A delegation of servitors of Jagannath Temple in Puri today met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to register its opposition to the proposed entry of non-Hindus into the 12th-century shrine. The 22-member delegation of 'Chhatisa Nijog' Sevayats met the Chief Minister at his residence along with Puri MP Pinaki Mishra and Puri MLA Maheshwar Mohanty. During the meeting, the delegation also discussed the Supreme Court's proposal on abolition of hereditary services of servitors. Presently only Hindus are allowed to enter Jagannath Temple and the issue of allowing non-Hindus' entry to the shrine is being debated following the Supreme Court's July 5 direction that the Puri Jagannath Temple management should consider allowing all visitors, irrespective of their faith, to offer prayers to the deities. "The servitor community has been opposing entry of non-Hindus into Jagannath temple and will continue to do so," Rama Chandra Singhari, who led the delegation, told reporters after the ...
Muslims who keep beard without moustache are fundamentalists: Waseem Rizvi
Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi said Muslims, who don't keep moustache with beard are "fundamentalists.""Keeping beard is Sunnat. However, keeping beard without moustache is against Sunnat as the person looks fearful. Muslims with beard and no moustache are fundamentalists. Such people can be seen promoting terrorism across the world," Rizvi said in a statement here.He apparently is against those Muslim organisations which issue fatwa by interfering in personal lives of others."We have few Muslims, who issue fatwa by interfering in the personal life of others. They forget that Islam has nothing to do with this. Those who issue fatwa in such cases should be booked as traitors because nobody has the right to go against the Constitution of India and make their own laws," Rizvi said."Some Muslims in India are getting influenced by the terrorist activities of ISIS in Jammu and Kashmir. This is not good. This can lead to violence in the country. It's important to take ...
Warkari palanquins reach Pune on the way to Pandharpur
Amidst chants praising Lord Vitthal, thousands of "warkaris" entered Pune today carrying the palanquins of saint Dnyaneshwar and saint Tukaram enroute to the temple town of Pandharpur. Both the palanquins will halt in the city for the whole day tomorrow and will proceed further on the journey to the temple town in Solapur district on Monday. Sambhaji Bhide, the founder of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, made an appearance along with his followers which kept the city police on their toes. Last year, Bhide and his followers were booked by the police for allegedly "obstructing" the waari (procession) and shouting slogans. In view of this, Pune police had issued notice to the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan functionaries asking them to desist from obstructing the waari. The notice also asked members of the group to not possess weapons or create law and order problems. The Trust of saint Dnyaneshwar, in Alandi in Pune, had written to the police asking to ensure that no one disrupted ..
Rajnath Singh offer prayers at Lord Sree Krishna temple
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today offered prayers at the famous Sree Krishna temple here. Singh spend about 30 minutes in the temple and had 'Nirmalya darshan', considered to be highly auspicious, at the crack of dawn, temple sources said. Nirmalya darshan is the first darshan of the day. Singh had participated in the Parliamentary consultative committee meeting on the Immigration Visa Foreigners' Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) project at Kochi yesterday.
Pope fears for Christian presence in Mideast
Pope Francis today voiced concern that Christians will disappear from the Middle East amid "murderous indifference" as war rages on. "The Middle East has become a land of people who leave their own lands behind," Francis said. He was addressing the leaders of almost all the Middle Eastern churches gathered in the Italian port city of Bari to pray for peace in the region. "There is also the danger that the presence of our brothers and sisters in the faith will disappear, disfiguring the very face of the region," the pope warned. "For a Middle East without Christians would not be the Middle East. "Indifference kills, and we desire to lift up our voices in opposition to this murderous indifference." Among those attending the ecumenical meeting in southern Italy are the patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the eastern orthodox church, and metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian orthodox church which is powerful in Syria. Patriarch Tawadros II is representing ...
Franciscan museum in Jerusalem shows life in Jesus' time
Jerusalem's Franciscan friars have opened a new museum filled with artifacts related to daily life in Jesus' time. The Terra Sancta Museum's new wing, built into the ruined remains of Crusader and Mamluk buildings along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, showcases objects discovered in excavations at biblical sites over the past century. The Custody of the Holy Land the Franciscan Order's organ in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus has carried out several archaeological excavations around the region, focusing on sites with connections to the Bible. Many of the items going on display in the new exhibit, titled "The House of Herod: Life and Power in the Age of the New Testament," have never been shown to the public. Coins, ceramic fragments, ossuaries and stone slabs bear inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Samaritan, illustrating the kaleidoscopic variety of cultures present in the Holy Land during the first centuries. The artifacts include everything
Muslims villagers in Bihar host Hindu seers to open temple after donating land, money
After Mansoor Ansari donated land and Mokhtar Alam donated money to build a temple while other Muslims helped in its construction. The villagers also got together to play host to Hindu seers and devotees at inauguration of the temple here earlier this week.
Pope and Orthodox patriarchs pray for Mideast Christians
Pope Francis is hosting a daylong prayer for peace in the Middle East with an unprecedented gathering of Orthodox patriarchs and Catholic leaders united in their concern for the plight of Christians in a region tormented by violence and religious-inspired divisions. Saturday's ecumenical prayer was being held in the symbolically rich Adriatic port city of Bari, considered a bridge between east and west and home to the relics of St. Nicholas, an important saint in the Orthodox world. Francis greeted the patriarchs outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas and together they descended to the crypt to pray before the relics and light a flame for peace. For years, the Vatican has voiced concern about the plight of Christians driven from Mideast communities that date to the time of Christ.
Duterte vows to resign if anybody can prove God exists
The Philippine president, who recently sparked outrage for calling God stupid, has courted new controversy in his largely Roman Catholic country by saying he will resign if anybody can prove that God exists. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has had a thorny relationship with the church, questioned anew in a speech late Friday some of the basic tenets of the Catholic faith, including the concept of original sin, which he said taints even innocent infants and can only be removed through baptism in a church for a fee. "Where is the logic of God there?" Duterte asked in a speech at the opening of a science and technology event in southern Davao city. The 73-year-old leader said that if there's "one single witness" who can prove, perhaps with a picture or a selfie that a human was "able to talk and to see God," he will immediately resign. Duterte, however, suggested that there must be a God or a supreme being that prevents billions of stars and celestial bodies from colliding in a frequency .
Absence of harmony, development in India today: Sharad Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar launched a veiled attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, and highlighted the absence of harmony and development in India in the present day."If there's power in someone's hands he must see how to maintain harmony and lead others to development. Today there's absence of it. We see people getting attacked, sometimes Muslims, sometimes Christians. Section of people project as if it's their right to attack others," Pawar said while addressing a gathering here.He also criticised BJP MP Gopal Shetty for his earlier remark on Christians not being contributors to India's freedom struggle."A minister said today that Christians did not contribute to the freedom struggle. He should be ashamed of himself. Congress contributed a lot to the struggle for freedom and Annie Besant was a significant name in Congress."Citing an example of the Avenfield reference case verdict in Pakistan, Pawar said the situation is similar in ...