Source: The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/news_week.ssf?/news/oregonian/01/01/lc_12quake28.frame

On January 28, 2001, The Oregonian reported on Indian families in the Northwest who are trying to learn what happened to their relatives in the recent 7.9-magnitude earthquake in India, and who feel helpless to relieve the suffering. "Oregon and Southwest Washington are home to thousands of people from India,...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On January 28, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "hundreds of central Ohioans this weekend are organizing prayers and fund-raisers to benefit victims of the Indian earthquake while they await news of family members living near the epicenter." 30 to 40 percent of Bharatiya Hindu Temple's 2,000 members have relatives in Gujarat state, the area hardest-hit by the earthquake. The 800 members of the Gujarat Mandal Association of Central Ohio spent the weekend calling India to learn what happened to their relatives. Special...

Source: The Seattle Times

Source: The Kansas City Star

On January 24, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported on a ceremony in India marking the beginning of a boy's passage into adulthood: the "traditional Hindu Thread Ceremony, in which the youngsters vowed to honor their parents, study hard, serve their community and take on religious responsibilities. The ceremony is seen as a second birth." The ceremony is performed when males of the three upper classes in India reach the ages of 5-24. "The ceremony began with Priya Sane and four other female relatives feeding the brothers a...

Source: India New England News

In January, 2001, India New England News reported on Saraswati Mandiram, the Institute of Holistic Health, Music, Yoga, Science and Philosophy, in New Hampshire. It celebrated the official anniversary of the Baghavad Gita, a text which "is central to the institute's teachings. Holistic health...does not just focus on the physical self but also on the health of the spirit, mind and emotions. One of the institute's stated goals is to provide a place of worship...that will 'explore and promote the good in both Eastern and Western...

Source: New York Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-11-07/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-87462.asp?last6days=1

On November 7, 2000, the New York Daily News published an article entitled "Hindu Leader Receives Honor."

Source: The Kansas City Star

On October 25, 2000, The Kansas City Star reported on "Rupanuga Vedic College, the first and only degree-granting seminary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness...Rupanuga, which takes its name from a Hindu spiritual leader, opened in January at 52nd Street and the Paseo in an old brick and stone church formerly used by Presbyterians and Nazarenes. The college has no sports teams - the Hare Krishnas consider sports a frivolous diversion from worship - and no women, another bothersome distraction from spiritual...

Source: The Seattle Times

On October 21, 2000, The Seattle Times reported that "the Roman Catholic Church sent greetings to the world's Hindus as they prepared for Diwali new year celebrations. It expressed the hope that improving interfaith relations will benefit world harmony and peace. 'May the world around us, particularly the world of the oppressed, the marginalized, the forgotten ones and the innocent victims of injustice, feel the warmth of our growing relationship,' said a letter written by Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 21, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "thousands of Hindus across Southern California will gather at Cerritos Regional County Park to celebrate Diwali, the annual Indian holy day known as the Festival of Lights. The name Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word Deepawali, which means "rows of diyas" or earthen clay lamps. The day symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. Although there are countless Indian legends behind Diwali, the most widely known is the story of Lord Rama and his defeat of the demon king Ravana...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On October 13, 2000, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) reported "over and over, a dozen children practiced singing and dancing to the tabla, Indian drums. Nearby, their parents, working late into a recent night, mounted shimmering 4-foot statues of gods and goddesses on a platform in preparation for a Hindu festival. The worship festival was at the India Community Center on Cedar Rd. near Grandview Ave., a gray, windowless building that quietly serves as a gathering place for more than a dozen local Indian-American groups. Serving a...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 23, 2000, The Plain Dealer published an article entitled, "Criticism of Hindu Plucked from Web." It reported that "some members of a Christian conservative group apparently believe Congress erred when it allowed a Hindu priest from Parma to give a historic invocation before the House of Representatives last week. But the Family Research Council, best known for its former leader, one-time presidential candidate Gary Bauer, backed away yesterday from its criticism that Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala's prayer in the Capitol...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 17, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that Gil Garcetti, who is seeking reelection as Los Angeles County district attorney, accepted a blessing from Pramukh Swami Maharaj. "'I am here...because of my feelings for your community,' Garcetti told the Indian American crowd sitting cross-legged in a vast hall at the Swaminarayan Hindu temple in Whittier on Thursday night. 'This is also my community...' The crowd was not there for Garcetti so much as for the swami, who is visiting from India and is the spiritual leader...

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

On September 15, 2000, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that an Indian festival will be celebrated in a town outside of Salt Lake City. The "soon-to-be-opened Krishna Temple and radio station KHQN in Spanish Fork will celebrate the famous Indian epic, the Ramayan, at the 14th annual Festival of India...There are about 300 Indian families across the Wasatch Front, and for almost 15 years, 4,000 people have congregated each year to learn and celebrate their culture...The festival will be staged under multicolored Indian wedding...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 13, 2000, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) published the article "Hindu Priest from Parma to Offer Historic Invocation in D.C."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 11, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "thousands of Indian devotees from San Diego to Seattle, from Orange County to Oregon" recently flocked to the Swaminarayan Hindu temple "for the rare chance to see their spiritual leader, Pramukh Swami Maharaj...The 78-year-old Hindu guru is head of the Swaminarayan sect, one of the fastest-growing Hindu denominations in the country. Pramukh Swami, also known as Swamishri, arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday evening for a weeklong visit with his followers in Southern...