Source: The Long Island Voice

On September 29, 1999, The Long Island Voice published an article on the problems that the Vedic Heritage Shree Hanuman Mandir temple in Hempstead, New York is having with some community residents. In June of 1999, a Hempstead police officer responded to a complaint lodged by a neighbor of the temple who expressed concern over smoke from fires lit within the temple, which are part of a three-hour cleansing and prayer ritual called havan. The police officer came with a building department official and doused the fire,...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 11, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that thousands of Hindus are expected to attend a festival and parade called Ganesh Chaturthi, which honors Ganesh, the Hindu god known as the remover of obstacles. The celebration is to take place at Huntington Beach, CA on Saturday, September 11th and is sponsored by the local chapter of Maharashtra Mandal, an organization of more than 4,000 Marathi-speaking people in Southern California. Archana Dongre, event organizer and a freelance writer for Hinduism Today, stated...

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

On July 31, 1999 Akron Beacon Journal featured an article on the research of Northern Ohio's religious diversity by Pluralism Project affiliates. The "growth in religious diversity has been examined by two Kent State University researchers... Dr. David Odell-Scott, associate professor of philosophy... and Dr. Surinder M. Bhardwaj, a professor of geography... received a 1998 grant through the Pluralism Project at Harvard University to map the religious diversity of Northern Ohio... As a result of that work, the researchers have...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 29, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Hindu Festival of Chariots, the 23rd annual Americanized version of the celebration held in Orissa, India, will take place on Sunday, August 1st. Instead of three chariots, three 10-story floats, which represent the effigies of Krishna, his brother Balarama, and his sister Subhadra, will be pulled by people in a festive procession down Ocean Front Walk from Santa Monica to Venice. This festival in India marks the end of summer and the growing season. The celebration will...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 18, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an article on the persistent vandalism taking place at the Greater Atlanta Vedic Center in Lilburn, Georgia. "In one nine-month period, the Vedic Center was vandalized five times, including one incident in which a window was broken and an obscenity written in mud on the front wall." The Gwinnett Interfaith Alliance, which is currently undergoing expansion to include more of metro Atlanta, will lead a forum on hate crimes on July 19th at the Mercer...

Source: The Morning Call

On July 15, 1999, The Morning Call published an article entitled, "Hindu Temple in Schuylkill County Still Under Slow Construction: A Lack of Steady Donations Pushed Back Completion Date." The article reported on the inability of builders to proceed with construction of the largest Hindu temple in North America because of a lack of funds.

Source: The Morning Call

On July 15, 1999 the Morning Call published an article entitled, "Cultural Diversity to be Tracked: Researchers Will Study Religious Diversity in Schuylkill." The article reported that researchers, E. Allen Richardson and Catherine Cameron, from Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania are working in conjunction with Harvard University to track what changes a Hindu temple has brought to the mostly Christian community of Summit Station, Pennsylvania. "The researchers will first look at how the Pottsville-area Christian community has...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On July 12, 1999, the Omaha World-Herald reported that ground had been broken for a new addition to the Hindu temple in Omaha, Nebraska. The temple, which is housed in a converted restaurant, will be transformed to look like an authentic Indian temple with two towers and intricately-carved brick. Since the Omaha congregation was first organized in December of 1994, more than 700 names have been added to the mailing list and attendance at Sunday pujas has risen from 25 to 100. The congregation has also just hired a full-time priest...

Source: The Courier-Journal

On June 19, 1999, The Courier-Journal reported that the final day, June 20th, of the dedication ceremonies at the new Hindu Temple of Kentucky will be a ceremony to "energize" the deities.

Source: The Courier-Journal

On June 16, 1999, The Courier-Journal reported that there will be five days of ceremonies and celebrations from June 16-20 to dedicate the new Hindu Temple of Kentucky in eastern Jefferson County. The new building, which took 12 years and $1.2 million to construct, consists of 6 large and 7 small interior temples. The first Hindu Temple of Kentucky, which opened in 1989, is adjacent to the new complex and will be used for social gatherings. About 80 percent of the 400 Indian families who live in the Louisville area are Hindu,...

Source: The Washington Post

On March 20, 1999, The Washington Post reported that sanctification of the $4 million Durga Temple will be completed today when a statue of the goddess Durga is installed in the new shrine. Durga is one of the many manifestations of Devi, the mother goddess of Hinduism, and is the subject of a five-month exhibit at the Sackler Gallery that opens on March 28th. The Durga Temple is the first Hindu temple in Northern Virginia and the third in the Washington area. The number of Hindu congregations has recently increased in the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 16, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that the worldwide Hindu community is expressing concern over the depiction of Hindu deities in an episode of "Xena: The Warrior Princess." The disputed episode, entitled "The Way," depicts Lord Krishna in a way that is offensive to many Hindus. Braja dasi, a representative of the Los Angeles Chaitanya Mission, stated: "How would Christians feel if a bunch of Hindus took Jesus Christ and filmed Xena punching him in the face?" A delegation of over 200 Hindus attempted to meet with...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 11, 1999, the Los Angeles Times published an article on a lawsuit filed by Mukesh K. Rai, a Hindu from Carpinteria, CA. Rai sued Taco Bell for serving him a beef burrito when he asked for a bean burrito in April 1997. Rai settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. "The principles to me are far more important than the actual settlement," Rai said. "But Taco Bell has trivialized the importance of this suit. They still haven't shown any remorse."

Source: Newsday

On February 10, 1999, Newsday published an article on the problems that Swadhyaya, a Hindu philosophical movement, is experiencing over a proposed Swadhyaya center in Floral Park, NY. A civic group and a local Catholic priest are opposing the proposed $1.5 million center because they say it will "violate zoning laws and create traffic and congestion to an already growing neighborhood." Community board members recently voted to reject the proposed center due to the fact that it is "wider and taller than other area buildings and would require...

Source: The Courier-Journal

On January 26, 1999, The Courier-Journal of Louisville published an article on the expansion project of the Hindu Temple of Kentucky, located in Jefferson County. The expansion project will feature six new gopurams to be constructed by nine temple artisans from India. Each gopuram, which is 10 feet wide and 25 feet high, will be designed by an architect whose family has been designing temples for 1100 years. The $1 million cost of the project is being financed by approximately 500 families in the local Hindu community. The...