Our team of writers and photographers take you deep into Rajasthan for a giant festival in honor of the India cow, considered to be sacred. Our reporter, a young city-girl from Delhi, is thrown into a first hand experience of rural India and the elaborate ways that the ever-giving Desi bovine is honored. Her story is a revealing clash of traditional Bharat and urban life in modern India.
Then off to the Himalayas with the story of the Nanda Devi Raj Yatra, one of the world’s most dangerous pilgrimages, which led our camerawoman upand up and up into the frozen mountains with the Goddess. Next we take you to Germany for the Balinese Kuningan festival, which added a dazzle of color and Balinese style to the streets of Hamburg.
This is the issue in which we announce our Hindu of the Year Renaissance Award which for 2014 goes to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is hard to argue with his enormous impact on Hindus everywhere in the world.
Explore your own mind with this issue’s Insight section, showcasing a detailed analysis of the five states of mind: the subconscious, subsubconscious, conscious, superconscious and subsuperconscious. For those exploring yoga and meditation, this is a precious resource, giving profound insights into the nature of our mind.
On page 60, discover how one Hindu parent in California is working to improve the presentation of Hinduism in US public schools. He also offers advice for parents as to how they can help, and we hope they’ll take him up on it.
Ramli Ibraham, a Malaysian, is one of today’s most creative dancers, choreographing masterful works drawing on India’s rich stories and dance styles, particularly Orissi. This interview offers a look into his artistic spirit and his global sharing of the dance arts of Bharat.
A recent translation of the Vedas gives readers a poetic look into Hinduism’s primary scriptures. This issue includes verses from the Yajurveda, delightfully detailing Brahma’s presence within and throughout all existence.
Our publisher, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, offers a helpful explanation of temple murtis and the various views that are commonly held of them. He explains how the various Hindu lineages define God and how this impacts worship and temples.
Read about the historic World Hindu Congress held last November in New Delhi, and turn the magazine over to discover a valuable and vast digital resource for Hindu teachers of all kinds.
And, of course, you’ll find the usual inspiring and witty remarks in “Quotes and Quips,” many good reader responses in our “Letters” section and an array of stories from around the world in “Global Dharma.”
