GUWAHATI, INDIA, June 23, 2017 (NDTV): With China refusing to open the gates to the first batch of about 50 pilgrims scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through Nathu La in Sikkim, the devotees have returned to Sherthang after waiting for a week. The second batch of pilgrims has been held up in Gangtok. ”Yes, there are some difficulties being experienced in movement of pilgrims via Nathu La. Matter is being discussed with Chinese side,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said today.
For nearly a week, a group of about 50 people waited in Sikkim for China to grant them passage to Tibet where they wanted to worship at Mount Kailash, which is at an altitude of about 21,000 ft. China refused to open its gates, reportedly because of major landslides. There are two routes to get to Mount Kailash, considered the abode of Lord Shiva and of religious significance to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists – through a pass in Uttarakhand and through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim. Chinese President Xi Jinping committed the new route through Nathu La Pass to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had pointed out the terrain difficulties of the existing routes through Uttarakhand and Nepal which involve arduous journey, including heavy trekking and travel on the backs of mules.
CHENNAI, INDIA, June 25, 2017 (Deccan Chronicle): A Sivalingam made of maragatham (emerald), valued over US$310,000 from the 400-year-old temple in Thiruporur was stolen by unidentified men on Friday night in the darkness of the new moon. The theft happened at Swayambulingeswara temple in Illaloor located on Thiruporur-Guduvancherry Road. According to the police, the statue was the main deity till 10 years ago. A decade back during Kumbhabhishekam a new stone deity was installed and this emerald Siva lingam was kept on the side along with other parivaramoorthigal.
However a year back a wandering devotee recognised the importance of the Lingam and told the temple authorities that it was a very valuable statue. Since then, more and more people started visiting the temple to have darshan of the maragatha Lingam. Residents decided to group together to have a neighborhood patrolling team to take care of the temple security on a rotation basis. On Friday night because of heavy rains and power cut, the team decided to call off patrolling at around 11 pm. Around 5.30 am on Saturday the emerald lingam was discovered stolen. The one-and-half-foot tall emerald lingam was removed from the base using a chemical solution, police noted, after visiting the temple.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, June 23, 2017 (Press Release): To guide youths in interfaith love, the author Dr. Dilip Amin established a non-profit forum, www.InterfaithShaadi.org, in 2009. He has since assisted countless individuals and couples, and through which he has personally guided 1200 youths. This new book is a summary of his research of the past 12 years in this field. This is the first book to exclusively cover marriage relationships between Abrahamics (Jews, Christians and Muslims) and Dharmics (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs).
This guidebook ”Interfaith Marriage” covers different perspectives on God, religious scriptures, nations’ marriage laws, pre-nuptial agreements, and dealing with parents & children about interfaith relationships. The best part of this book is that it covers 81 real-life love experiences of Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Jain and Parsi youths. It also covers an interracial relationship and situations in within-faith marriages.
To view the author’s video message, see ”source” above.
The Hindu marriage may be described as the union of two families. In this union, there is no room for petty ambitions and personal ego-trips. What is involved is love for the entire family that one is marrying into.
— Dada J.P. Vaswani, spiritual head of Sadhu Vaswani Mission
