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Hindu

Posts Tagged ‘Hindu’

Face of The Day: An Elephant Blesses A Hindu At Sangam

FACE of the Day:  A Hindu devotee receives blessings of an elephant at the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna, during the annual month-long Hindu religious fair “Magh Mela” in Allahabad, India, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela that began Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

The chain on the elephant’s leg symbolises things too deep for us to comprehend.

 

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Posted: 27th, January 2014 | In: Photojournalism, Reviews | Comment


Shiva is reincarnated as a huge pumpkin

pumpkin god

IN Bokaro, Jharkhand, the Hindu god Shiva has been reincarnated as an 87kg pumpkin.

The divine pumpkin can be seen at the Dundibagh vegetable market. Umesh Kumar, who found the vegetable, is delighted:

“Seeing it, I had an intuition that it is Lord Shiva. The pumpkin is oval in shape similar to a ‘Shiva Linga’. So I worship the pumpkin and offered it garlands and sweets.”

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Posted: 10th, April 2013 | In: Strange But True | Comment


In photos: devotees inflict pain in honour of the Goddess Mutthumariamman in Bandel

FACES of the day: Hindu devotees figure in a religious procession dedicated to Goddess Mutthumariamman in Bandel, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Kolkata, India, Friday, April 5, 2013. During the procession, ritualistic acts of inflicting pain on oneself are performed as an act of penance with the belief that it will prevent diseases and for the well-being of the families of devotees. An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but a string of lemons hooked to your chest is better…

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A Hindu devotee, cheeks pierced with a metal rod and body with hooks tied to lemons, participates in a religious procession dedicated to Goddess Mutthumariamman in Bandel, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Kolkata, India, Friday, April 5, 2013. The ritualistic acts of inflicting pain on oneself are performed as an act of penance with the belief that it will prevent diseases and for the well-being of the families of devotees. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

Posted: 7th, April 2013 | In: Reviews | Comment


The trade in human hair at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India

SELLING hair for profit:

Every day at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India, about 10,000 people sit cross-legged on the floor of the tonsuring room and let one of the 500 temple barbers shave off their hair. For many Hindu pilgrims, the shave is an intensely moving experience, as they believe that by sacrificing their hair here they will gain Lord Venkateswara’s protection and be cleansed of material debts.

Once the hair hits the floor, however, it enters the world of business. The strands are collected by attendants, packed into large steel bins, washed, and sorted according to length and quality. Twice a year, the stored hair is auctioned off and exported, mainly to the USA, UK and China, where it is used to make hair extensions and wigs. Long, untreated Indian hair is in high demand; the temple’s longest hair sells for RS20,000 (US$375) a kilogram.

Last year, amid concerns that buyers were forming a cartel, conspiring to keep bids low, the temple stopped its open auctioning process and began to sell online instead, through secret tenders. So far, it’s proving extremely lucrative; in 2011, the temple sold 561 tonnes of hair for RS2 billion ($36.9 million).

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Posted: 18th, February 2013 | In: The Consumer | Comment


Face of the day: Shiva sees the Pushkar cattle fair

FACE of the Day: At the Pushkar cattle fair, Rajasthan, India, a man dressed as Hindu God Lord Shiva participates in a procession. (Ru Paul is away.)

Posted: 24th, November 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment


Faces of the day: The Navratri festival in India

FACES of the Day: Hindu devotees take part in the Navratri festival in Bhopal, India; and an Indian barber cuts the hair of a young girl as part of a ritual during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, at a temple in Allahabad. Ram Navami is a celebration of the birthday of the Hindu God Lord Rama. Other Hindus carry knives and flex their muscles…

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Posted: 1st, April 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (5)


Bigamist’s Hindu And Muslim Wives Fight Over Remains

WAS bigamist Chandan Kumar Chakrabarty, alias Sazzad Hossain, a Muslim or Hindu when he was murdered?

Wife number one says “Hindu”. She wants his remains to be cremated. Wife No. 2 says “Muslim”. She wants him buried.

And so to court. Says policeman Delwar Hossain:

“If we still can’t decide, the court will then see if we need to re-examine the body and see if he had been circumcised.”

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Posted: 23rd, June 2010 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)