Page 26 - Religion Belief
UP: Muslim family puts Ram-Sita's photo on wedding card to spread communal harmony
To spread communal harmony, a Muslim family in Uttar Pradesh's Chilauwa village has printed image of Lord Ram and Sita on wedding invitation cards of their daughter Rukhsar."In this village, both Hindus and Muslims live together. We want to promote communal harmony amongst people. We should not divide ourselves on the basis of our religion," said Rukhsar's mother, Baby.The bride's brother, Mohammad Umar said that the villagers are happily accepting the wedding invitation. "We are happy to see people's reaction on this," he added.
Mass prayer held for SL terror victims in Meghalaya
A holy mass was held in Meghalaya for the victims and survivors of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed over 350 in Sri Lanka.
Amarinder accuses Badals of abusing ' Akal Takht for 'political gains'
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Wednesday accused the Badals of playing with religious sentiments of the Sikhs by abusing the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, to promote their vested interests. "Such politicisation of religion will backfire on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)," the chief minister said while addressing a public rally here. "Anyone who tries to use the Akal Takht is not a Sikh in my eyes," Amarinder said. He condemned the "outrageous" attempts of the Badals (Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal) to undermine the supreme power of the Takht. "The Akalis claim to be the custodians of Sikh religion but have always used it to promote their political interests," he alleged. Pointing out that even Maharaja Ranjit Singh had bowed before the Akal Takht and served his punishment before it, Amarinder Sigh said the Badals, on the other hand, had "lowered" the prestige of the Takht "by unabashedly summoning and dictating terms to the Jathedar to promote ...
Encounter with 'God' may bring long-lasting health
A personal encounter with the "ultimate reality" or God -- spontaneous or under the influence of a psychedelic drug -- can bring positive changes in psychological health even decades after the initial experience, says an interesting study.
Spiritual experiences confer lasting mental health benefits: Study
People who claim to have experienced personal encounters with 'God' report positive changes in their psychological health lasting decades, scientists say. Over the millennia, people have reported having deeply moving religious experiences either spontaneously or while under the influence of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin-containing mushrooms or the Amazonian brew ayahuasca. A portion of those experiences have been encounters with what the person regards as "God" or "ultimate reality." In a survey of thousands of people who reported having experienced personal encounters with God, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the US report that more than two-thirds of self-identified atheists shed that label after their encounter, regardless of whether it was spontaneous or while taking a psychedelic. Moreover, a majority of respondents attributed lasting positive changes in their psychological health -- life satisfaction, purpose and meaning -- even decades after their ...
Candlelight vigil held to express oneness with people of Lanka
Calling for unity, love and peace to fight terrorism, a section of Chennai residents Tuesday held a candlelight vigil here to express solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka which was rocked by blasts on Easter Sunday. Senior citizens, members from churches, politicians, among others, from civil society joined the vigil and emphasised on remaining vigilant in unison. Representing the Islamic Forum for Promotion of Modern Thought Faizur Rahman condemned the attacks and said the aim of extremists is to divide and rule. "The only way to counter this is to remain united. In India, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, believers and non-believers have to exhibit strong unity even in the face of any kind of divisive agenda," he said. Rahman said the aim of his forum is to counter any kind of extremist thought in society. "We counter such thoughts, especially those emanating from some extremist muslim organisations. Our aim is to stop youth from radicalising," he said, ...
One killed in Bengal poll violence
One person was killed after the workers of Trinamool Congress and Congress clashed in West Bengal's Murshidabad district during the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, the police said.
20 years on, Falungong survives underground in China
Sitting lotus-style on an apartment floor, two women quietly rotate their arms in front of them -- a rare sight in China where public displays of Falungong meditation have all but disappeared. It is a shadow of the spiritual movement's heyday in China, where the group once boasted more than 70 million followers before it was outlawed in 1999, giving police carte blanche to persecute members. But 20 years on, the group has remained stubbornly persistent, even as practitioners in mainland China continue to face arrests and torture, according to rights groups. Before the crackdown, Falungong members would congregate in parks in large numbers to practise "qigong" meditation. Now they do their slow movement exercises behind closed doors. "It doesn't matter how the Communist Party suppresses (Falungong), I don't think about it too much," one of the women, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, told AFP. "I just do what I want to do," she said. Falungong, which ...
Indian-origin S Africans flock to temples for Easter weekend prayers
Hundreds of thousands of Indian-origin South Africans flocked to temples catering to the north and south Indian communities for prayers traditionally hosted on Easter weekend each year. Their Muslim counterparts also gathered in their thousands in Johannesburg for the annual Ijtima, a weekend of spiritual activity hosted at this time. The communities take advantage of the opportunity offered by the four-day weekend to allow people to travel to the popular events. In Durban, more than 250,000 devotees participated in the annual Marieamman prayers at two temples established by the first settlers who arrived by boat from India as indentured sugar cane farm labourers in 1860. The temples are in the suburbs of Isipingo and Mount Edgecombe, once surrounded by sprawling sugar cane plantations where the labourers slaved away from dusk to dawn daily, retiring to some solace at the makeshift temples for brief periods. During the four-day Easter weekend, which includes Good Friday and Easter ...
Goa governor expresses shock at Lanka terror attacks
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Monday expressed shock at the deadly terror attack on churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday which killed 290 people and wounded 500 others.
Delhi court reserves order on summoning Tharoor in defamation complaint
A court here reserved its order on Monday on summoning Congress leader Shashi Tharoor over his alleged "scorpion" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said the court would pass the order on April 27 on whether to summon the Congress MP as the accused in the plea. The court was hearing a criminal defamation complaint filed against Tharoor by Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar, who has said his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader's statement. "I am a devotee of Lord Shiva.... However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country," the complaint says. "The complainant's religious sentiments were hurt and the accused deliberately did this malicious act, intending to outrage the religious feelings of Lord Shiva devotees by insulting their religious belief," it ...
Sri Lanka's Christians afraid to attend church after blasts
Members of Sri Lanka's Christian minority have been left afraid to go to church after deadly attacks that hit Easter services, killing nearly 300 and stoking fears of communal violence. "Some people might be afraid to go to church now. At this moment I have no idea what to say," Father Lour Fernando told AFP by St Sebastian's in Negombo, one of three churches targeted Sunday. "We have to remain strong and keep going to church and keep praying. We can't stop." Ranjan Christopher Fernard, a 55-year-old taxi driver from Negombo, said he was nervous about attending church after the attacks, which killed his friend's 11-year-old son. "Tonight we (my family) will all go to church to pray for the victims," he said. "Of course I feel afraid... but we have to go to church, we have to pray for the injured to get well soon." The suicide bomb attacks were the worst atrocity in Sri Lanka since the country's 37-year conflict with Tamil rebels ended a decade ago. Sri Lanka's Christians, who make up .
A Catholic town at the center of Sri Lanka's deadly attacks
The seaside Sri Lankan fishing town of Negombo has long been called "Little Rome," a reference to its abundance of churches and its place at the center of the country's small Catholic community. On Monday, it was a town in mourning. Small white flags flew in house after house near St. Sebastian's Church, a sign that someone who lived there had died. Groups of people visited, paying their respects. On Easter Sunday, a bomb blast ripped through St. Sebastian's, one of a half-dozen coordinated attacks on churches and high-end hotels that killed nearly 300 people. At least 110 were killed at St. Sebastian's, said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, making it the day's most deadly bombing. Charles Fernando, 32, who was among the neighbourhood residents walking between houses, pointed to a home where he said nearly everyone had been killed or injured. "We had war for 30 years but there were no bomb blasts in Negombo," he said. "We will never forget this." During Sri Lanka's long and bloody civil war,
'Agni Kheli' festival: devotees throw fire at each other at K'tka temple
As a part of a centuries-old tradition, hundreds of devotees here performed a spectacular fire ritual, to pay reverence to the Goddess Durga at a temple situated in the Kateel town, around 30 kilometers from here.Bare-chested, dhoti-clad men threw fire torches at each other in the compound of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple here in the unique age-old fire fighting ritual aimed at appeasing the Goddess.The ritual 'Agni Kheli' 'Thoothedhara' takes place during the festival of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple that is held in the month of April each year for about eight consecutive days.Two villages near the temple-- Athoor and Kodathoor participated in the ritual.Speaking to ANI, priest of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple, Hari Narayana Dasa Asranna said: "The two groups face one another from a distance of about 15metres to 20 meters and throw burning palm fronds at each other."According to the rules of the festival, the men are divided into two groups and are permitted five
London says Britons among those killed in Sri Lanka attacks
Britons were among those killed in the deadly Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka, the Foreign Office in London said. "We can confirm that British nationals were among those killed in today's horrific attacks in Sri Lanka," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman told AFP. "Our staff are supporting the relatives of the victims and are continuing to work with the relevant authorities to obtain further information. "We extend our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones and all those affected by this senseless tragedy." The spokeswoman did not give a figure for the Britons killed, but a government ministry source said London was aware of at least five British fatalities. A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services, killing more than 200 people, including dozens of foreigners. James Dauris, Britain's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, was attending an Easter Day church service in Colombo that was cut short ..
PM Modi announces ex-gratia to families of 7 killed in Karuppasami temple stampede
Seven people were killed and 10 others got injured in a stampede at Karuppasami temple in the district on Saturday night.Thousands of devotees had gathered at the temple on Saturday night to offer prayers on the occasion of Chitra Poornima.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his condolences over the incident.The PM wrote on his official Twitter handle, "Saddened by the loss of lives due to the stampede at a temple in Thuraiyur, Trichy. My condolences to the families of those who passed away and prayers with the injured. All possible help is being extended by the authorities."The Prime Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased, as well as Rs 50,000 each to those injured in the incident."An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who passed away has been approved from the PM's National Relief Fund. Rs 50,000 each for the injured has also been approved," the tweet read.The injured have been admitted to the government ...
Security tightened around Goa churches on Easter
Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant on Sunday while condemning the Sri Lankan terror attacks, said that the state government has beefed up the security around all the churches here on Easter Day.While speaking to ANI he said: " I have discussed the security situation with the state Director General of Police Pranab Nanda and have instructed him to beef up security around Goa's churches."The chief minister insisted that since Goa is full of churches, the security built-up is needed on the occasion of Easter Sunday.Further speaking on the issue of safety Sawant said: "I will also be talking to the Archbishop of Goa and seek his help to ensure the security of the churches and people."This comes in the wake of the gruesome bomb blast attack in Sri Lanka that hit a string of high-end hotels and churches, as the Christian community marked the occasion of Easter Sunday. 207 people have lost their lives until now, while around 450 people have been injured.
Egypt's Al-Azhar condemns Sri Lanka 'terrorist' attacks
Egypt's Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution, on Sunday condemned "terrorist" attacks in Sri Lanka against hotels and churches celebrating Easter that killed more than 200 people. "I cannot imagine a human being could target the peaceful on their celebration day," said Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the institution's grand imam. "Those terrorists' perverted disposition goes against the teachings of all religions," he said in comments published on Al-Azhar's Twitter account. At least 207 people were killed Sunday in a series of eight devastating bomb blasts, which ripped through hotels and churches where Christians were celebrating Easter. "I pray that God grants patience to the families of the casualties and recovery to the injured," added Sheikh Tayeb. Al-Azhar frequently denounces jihadist movements and regularly reaches out to the Christian faith. In February, Pope Francis and Sheikh Tayeb signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace", hailed by the ..
Western Christians mark Easter at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre
Hundreds of pilgrims filed into Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Jesus's resurrection, for Easter celebrations on Sunday. Catholics and Protestants mark Easter on Sunday, while eastern Orthodox Christians celebrated Palm Sunday, with Easter Sunday coming for them on April 28. The church, in the Old City of Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, is built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. A recently renovated ornate shrine within the church surrounds the cave where Jesus is believed to have been interred. The western and eastern faiths mingled there in a packed crowd. "Too much of an unruly crowd is not so spiritual," grumbled Donatella Buhler from Switzerland, there with her children. Polish pilgrim Matthew Novak was more impressed. "It's really different," he said. "You can feel the spirit of religion." Roman Catholic Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated mass near the shrine and alluded to the pain and
Pope denounces 'cruel violence' of Sri Lanka Easter attack
Pope Francis denounced the "cruel violence" of the Easter Sunday slaughter of Christians and foreigners in Sri Lanka as he celebrated the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar by lamenting the bloodshed and political violence afflicting many parts of the world. Francis skipped his homily during Easter Mass but delivered his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (To the city and the world) speech highlighting conflicts in the Mideast, Africa and the Americas and demanding that political leaders put aside their differences and work instead for peace. "May the one who gives us his peace end the roar of arms, both in areas of conflict and in our cities, and inspire the leaders of nations to work for an end to the arms race and the troubling spread of weaponry, especially in the economically more advanced countries," Francis said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica overlooking the flower-decked square below. In a special appeal at the end, Francis lamented the "grave attacks" on