Issue Summary Apr/May/Jun 2010 HD

The April-May-June edition of Hinduism's flagship spiritual magazine, Hinduism Today, has been released in digital form and is now available for free on your desktop. This issue focuses primarily on two subjects: Hindu history for children and Hindu festivals.

The 16-page history lesson is the fourth in our series aimed at a sixth-grade audience. It covers the period from 1850 to 1947, when India was colonized by the British.,As our readers know, Indian history in Western textbooks for children is appallingly inaccurate and skewed toward the strange. This segment continues our effort to rectify that, to give well-researched lessons that tell the true story of India's place in the world down through the centuries. Here we present the facts about the British occupancy, their economic exploitation and sometimes ruthless repressions. You may have read other histories of this period, but get ready to discover lots of new insights into those difficult days before Independence.

In the second main feature, we explore 15 of the major Hindu holy days in a 32-page feature called "Festivals!" It's a marvelous romp through the year, stopping every month or so to tell about our celebrations. Festivals are a kind of glue for Hindu culture, touching our lives, connecting families and neighbors, bringing together entire cities. Soumya Sitaraman, author of Random House's Following the Hindu Moon helped the Hinduism Today editorial staff by contributing fascinating details, typical holiday recipes and her mother's marvelous photography. The editors added "Fact and Fiction" sections to explore (and emend) some of the gnarly myths that people in the West hold about Sanatana Dharma. This is a great resource that can find its way into the schoolroom, the summer camp, anywhere students are learning about Hinduism past and present. As you would expect, it is elegantly designed by the HT wizards.

When our publisher, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, was in Melbourne in December, he gave a wonderful keynote talk on yoga and its place in the world, particularly its applicability to nonHindus. His current editorial gives us a glimpse of that talk, "Can Everyone Benefit from Yoga?"

Bodhinatha's Australian itinerary included the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions, touted as the world's largest interfaith meeting--a reprise of the 1893 meeting that featured Swami Vivekananda. As part of the 2009 program, a rare gathering of Hindu leaders from around the world met to discuss key modern issues, trends and challenges. Our story brings you the opinions of the swamis who attended from all over the world. Their views of climate change, one of the key topics in Melbourne, will inform and perhaps surprise you.

If you already use the free desktop client to read the PDF's and keep a library of past issues on your computer, would have received an e-mail notice announcing the new release. If you haven't tried it choose "Navigator" from the menu above to download Hinduism Today Navigator. It's is free.