OCHS Weblog

Prince Charles has paid tribute to the “remarkable contribution” the Asian, particularly the Indian community, has made to Britain. Speaking at a special dinner hosted by him and the Duchess of Cornwall for nearly 200 guests at Windsor Castle to celebrate the “splendidly unstoppable” achievements they had made in recent years, Prince Charles hailed the success of Asian sports stars, TV shows and films such as “East is East” and “Bend It Like Beckham.”

The Prince, OCHS Director Shaunaka Rishi, and OCHS Benefactor, Dr Arnab Banerji

Among the invited guests were comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar and his wife Meera Syal, cricketer Saj Mahmood, author Vikram Seth, newsreader Krishnan Guru Murthy, and the Director for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Shaunaka Rishi Das. The dinner marked the launch of the British Asian Trust, a charity founded by His Royal Highness to foster cooperation and friendship among these communities.

During a speech to guests including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the Prince praised the social and economic contributions the Asian community had made to enrich Britain. In May his mother Queen Elizabeth had opened a Hindu temple in Bradford.

This successful conference, held at Trinity College, Oxford, on the weekend of 20–21 October, helped create an understanding of how sacred spaces came to be defined in the archaeological record from around the latter half of the first millennium BC onwards. It bridged the gap that exists between textual studies and archaeology with focus on the Hindu temple.The main themes of the Conference were: The Archaeology of the Temple; Texts and Religious Action; Asceticism and the Bhakti Tradition, and; Performance and Text.

Prof Jack Hawley, USA

Leading scholars from India, Canada, the USA, Russia, France, Germany, and the UK made short presentations, audio of which is available below. The Conference’s convenors were Prof. Gavin Flood, OCHS Academic Director and Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray, JNU, New Delhi.

Special thanks are owed to Mr Azad Shivdasani who generously sponsored this valuable conference.

MP3 recordings and images from the conference are available at www.ochs.org.uk/sdc07

sify.com

KOLKATA, INDIA, October 11, 2007: Last year, they made a replica of Swami Vivekananda’s residence, before that it was the Titanic. But a puja committee in Kolkata seems to have hit a bad spell this year with their Hogwarts Castle pandal attracting a US$50,800 fine for copyright violations. Just when they were getting into the swing of the Durga Puja magic under a giant marque modeled on Harry Potter’s school, the FD Block puja committee in Salt Lake got a shock when they received a summons from the Delhi High Court asking it and the decorators to appear in court on Friday.

According to the organizers, the summons run into 394 pages and mention J.K. Rowling and others as the plaintiff. It states that the puja committee can carry out the puja after paying US$50,800. With only six days to go for the festival, the organizers don’t know what to do. “The summons has come at a time when the pandal is almost ready. We don’t know what to do now because we can’t afford to pay the fine. We are taking legal help and talking to West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty, our chief patron, to sort out the problem, ” block committee president Hiranmoy Roychowdhury said. “It appears the case was filed by Penguin, distributor of Harry Potter books in India. Our committee representatives will go to Delhi to sort out the matter. ”

Said Nirmalya Roychowdhury, the regional sales manager of Penguin India that publishes the Harry Potter books: “I am not sure whether the committee has taken permission for using the name of a very popular character. For using anything related to Harry Potter, written permission is necessary from an appropriate authority. Otherwise, legal action can be taken. The puja organizers say they find the situation “unthinkable.”

There had never been any court summons to any puja organizer before with Kolkatata’s famed pandals choosing different themes every year. Roychowdhury, however, said work on the pandal would not be stopped because the court has not issued any such directive.

www.nydailynews.comNEW YORK, October 12th 2007: Indian philosopher Sri Chinmoy, whose teachings of inner peace and world harmony made him a spiritual guide to thousands of followers here and around the world, died Thursday. He was 76.

The end came in his modest home in the Jamaica Hills section of Queens at 7a.m. Chinmoy was nominated for this year’s Nobel peace prize in recognition of his “ceaseless work for the United Nations” for more than 30 years.His Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles Worldwide Humanitarian Service sends food and medicine to the needy around the world.

Sri Chinmoy 

A group of followers outside the Chinmoy compound last night - all clad in white saris of mourning - declined to give details of Chinmoy’s death. But one young woman called her guru “a peace philosopher.” “You can’t imagine the love he had for everyone,” she said. “That’s how he’ll be remembered.” Wiping tears from his eyes, City Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens), who befriended Chinmoy 30 years ago, sa id, “He had a more profound influence over me than anyone I’ve every known. ” He said Chinmoy’s “spirit, his piety, his art and a lot of what he accomplished will live forever.”

Chinmoy was also a prolific author, poet and musician. He has given more than 700 concerts over the years and in 1977 founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, which holds running, swimming and cycling events worldwide, from fun runs to ultramarathons.
Followers said disciples from around the world were expected to begin arriving at the Queens center soon for an eight-day vigil of silent meditation, song and poetry recitation in Chinmoy’s memory.
You can see the announcement at his organization’s website: www.srichinmoy.org/srichinmoy/