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🔴 RELIGIOUS CRIMES, BIG STORIES, ROWS
🔷 LOVE & LAND JIHAD ‘Give us six months’: CM Adhikari vows stringent laws against ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ in Bengal Another article
Love Jihad is a Hindu Nationalist term for Muslims marrying Hindus to convert them. Land Jihad is a the term Nationalist use for Muslims buying or encroaching land to change demographics.
🔷 KAINCHI DHAM INFLUX ’Hanuman Ansh’ Director Appeals for Responsible Travel as Kainchi Dham Faces Massive Devotee Influx Another article
🔷 DALIT 50 YEAR BAN Tamil Nadu Kallakurichi Temple Opens for SC Devotees Under Police Protection Another article
“Scheduled Caste devotees entered a temple in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, under police protection, ending a 50-year-long exclusion.”
🔷 DALIT FOOD SNUB Dalit Villagers Served Separate Food At Karnataka Temple On Gandhi Jayanti Another article
“People from the Dalit community in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district were allegedly served a separate meal at a temple fair, triggering a controversy linked to untouchability. The incident was reported from the Tamadaddi village of Teradal taluk in Bagalkot, where a Lakshmi Devi fair at the local temple was underway.”
🔷 LIGHTING KILLS TEMPLE ELEPHANT Popular temple elephant Pallattu Brahmadathan dies after lightning strike in Erattupetta Another article
The elephant worked in Kerala’s Thrissur Pooram. Pallatt Brahmadathan, the elephant was chained outside during heavy rain when lightning struck and killed him.
🔷 ISKCON ODISHA RAIDED Child labour allegations trigger raid at ISKCON centre in Dhenkanal
The allegations are the children were being made to do labor instead of school classes.
“According to the allegations, children at the centre were being asked to wash utensils, launder clothes and sweep the premises. Acting on the complaint, labour officials and two Child Helpline teams reached the ISKCON centre to conduct an inspection.”
This comes amidst an ISKCON scandal in Nepal. Sex abuse allegations at ISKCON Nepal that ended in a teen girl’s suicide.
🔷 PINDA DAAN POLLUTION Thousands of fish die in Mumbai temple tank, locals blame pind daan ritual
“Thousands of fish have died at the historic and sacred Banganga Tank in South Mumbai during an annual ritual, raising concerns over water quality and pollution in the heritage water body.”
During Pitru Paksha people make offerings for deceased ancestors, usually rice balls. The priests don’t dispose of ritual materials in the tank. They touch the materials to the water three times. People doing rituals on their own are disposing of material in the water – which kills the fish!
🔷 PRIEST FOUND HANGING! Priest found hanging on temple premises in Chatra
“A 30-year-old priest associated with the ‘kirtan mandali’ at the centuries-old Maa Bhadrakali Temple in Itkhori, Chatra district, was found hanging in a room on the temple premises on Friday night, police said on Saturday.” Jharkhand.
🔷 AJMER DARGAH THREATS Threat from Pakistan over temple claim on Ajmer Dargah:Caller said withdraw case or family member will be killed
Ajmer Dargah is a Sufi Muslim dargah in Rajasthan. Some Hindus are claiming it houses a Shiva temple. Matter in court. Petitioner receives threatening call from Pakistani number.
🔷 CHAMPAT RAI PROTECTED? Champat Rai being shielded in Ram Mandir donation theft case, claims Congress
Champat Rai is the ex General Secretary for the Ram Temple Trust in Ayodhya. He stepped down after the donation theft scandal.
🔷 GANESH TEMPLE THEFT Thieves break into Guwahati Ganesh Temple; steal gold, silver and cash worth Rs 3 lakh
🔷 COAL MINE NEAR TEMPLE Heritage activists oppose open cast coal mine near Ramappa Temple, fear threat to World Heritage Site
🔷 MINING POSES NO THREAT? Mining poses no threat to Ramappa Temple: Singareni
🔷 TEMPLE ELEPHANT ATTACK Temple Elephant Attacks Mahout At Tiruchanoor
“An elephant serving the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tiruchanoor near Tirupati attacked its mahout on Sunday evening, leaving him seriously injured.”
🔷 SABARIMALA GOLD THEFT Keralam govt welcomes central agencies probe into Sabarimala gold loss
🔴 TEMPLE NEWS, NON-CRIMES
🔷 SURVIVING FLOODS
Panchvaktra Temple: Mandi’s five-faced Shiva shrine that survived the 2023 floods
🔷 FACIAL RECOGNITION Ram Temple Trust: After pocketless uniforms for staff, digital ‘kundli’, facial recognition part of reforms
The Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be keeping digital records of all employees and employing facial recognition as part of reforms after the donation theft scandal.
🔷 TERRECOTTA TEMPLES
How a bouquet of recent & upcoming publications is drawing attention to Bengal’s terracotta temples
🔷 BHUKI MATA TEMPLE Bhukhi Mata temple to get Rs 100 crore facelift ahead of Simhastha
🔷 500 COUPLES Andhra Pradesh: 500 Couples Take Part In Srinivasa Vratham At Dokiparru Temple
🔴 FESTIVALS
🔷 NAVARATRI 2026 Navratri 2026: Start and End Date, Calendar, Importance, Shubh Muhurat
🔷 DURGA PUJA HISTORY Durga Puja 2026: Exploring history and heritage in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura
🔷 1,000 PUJA MANDAPS Around 1,000 puja mandaps set up in Nilphamari
🔴 PILGRIMAGES
🔷 SOMNATH PILGRIMAGE 1,060 Devotees Leave Vijayawada For Somnath Pilgrimage
🔴 CELEBS & POLITICIANS AT TEMPLES
🔷 SHIKHAR DHAWAN – Shikhar Dhawan Offers Prayers at Tirumala Temple
🔴 OVERSEAS HINDU NEWS
🇮🇹 ITALIAN GURU CULT The guru, the handmaids and the yoga ‘cult of abuse’
Bruno Antonio Malatesta presented himself on YouTube as a Shaivite guru. He called himself “Maestro Śivakṣatriya Śivānanda.” He’s alleged to have lured dozens of women to his sect with yoga & meditation classes. Once there, the women reportedly became “handmaids”. They were allegedly forced to work 13 hours a day, punished if rules broken by beatings, sleeping on floor. Sex abuse for “purification therapy” was reported.
🔴 MISC: RELIGIOUS
🔷 MOVIE THEATRE TEMPLE!?
Movie Theatre Turns Into Temple
“A viral video has surfaced from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, showing moviegoers removing their footwear outside the Cine Galaxy theatre before entering to watch the newly released Bollywood film, The Vvaan: Force of the Forest.”
🔷 VARUNA SCULPTURE Rare Rain God Sculpture Draws Visitors At Panagal Museum
🔴 MISC: NON-RELIGIOUS
🔷 GAY INFLUENCER SHOT Punjabi LGBTQ+ influencer Mad Sandhu shot dead in Amritsar
🔷 MAD SANDHU KILLING Mad Sandhu killing: vanishing social media posts and Punjab’s queer history
🔴 OTHER RELIGIONS
🔷 BUDDHIST OR JAIN? Buddhist or Jain? Bust unearthed at Kopeshwar temple in Kolhapur sparks curiosity
🔷 ANTI MUSLIM VIOLENCE From Eruptive to Routinised, Anti-Muslim Violence in India Now Serves a New and Insidious Purpose
🔷 BUDDHIST TEMPLE DEMAND Demand for restoration of Buddhist temple in Zanskar to be looked into : CS Ladakh
“The government has assured the people of Zanskar district in Ladakh that their demand for restoration of a 1,000-year-old Buddhist temple and reconstruction of the link road and Zangla bridge would be looked into, officials said on Monday.”
🔷 MOSQUE DEMOLITIONS Don’t view mosque demolitions for development communally: BJP’s Basit Ali
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