Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir 
RIVERSIDE,CA - The Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir here celebrated Mahashivratri on March 4 with an enormous crowd. Ganesh Puja and Prathama Kaal Puja started the festivities in the morning. Devotees assembled in large numbers to receive blessings from the Lord through dharshan and abhishek. In the evening, 

PHOENIX, AZ – Dr. Jaswant Singh Sachdev  was invited by the Arizona State Education Board to offer a Sikh prayer. A prayer of about 3 minutes was said at the start of  the session on Feb. 25 at the Board head office in downtown Phoenix  by Sachdev in the presence of all Board members as well as other attendees present to take part in the meeting. Sachdev was contacted by the Board through Arizona Interfaith to offer a Sikh prayer. 

CHICAGO,IL - Addressing more than 300 Jain community members here during the Federation of Jain Association in North America (JAINA) meets the Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC) event. JAINA convention leaders and board members visited JSMC to promote the upcoming JAINA Convention 2019  from July 4-7 at Ontario, California, according to a press release. Convener of the Convention Mahesh Wadher, 

PHOENIX,AZ- A group of about 50 Sikhs ranging in age from five years to 80 plus years gathered at Sky Harbor International Airport here to donate gift cards worth  $11,000 dollars to the TSA employees who continued on their job taking care of passenger safety during the government shut down despite interruption in paychecks. For about a week, several Sikhs worked hard to raise money in a spirit of Seva. $11000 were donated...

IRVINE, CA – Anneeth Kaur Hundle has been named the Dhan Kaur Sahota Presidential Chair in Sikh Studies at the University of California, Irvine School of Social Sciences. The $2 million endowed chair – housed in the Department of Anthropology, was created in 2017 with a $1.5 million gift from Drs. Harvinder and Asha Sahota and $500,000 from the UC Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs program, according to a press release.

LUCKNOW - Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University invited more than 40 Universities at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Center here on Jan 16 to felicitate Mahamahopadhyaya Swami Bhadreshdasji, a sadhu and scholar of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. He was honoured with two awards – ‘Acharya Pravar’ by Uttar Pradesh and ‘Excellence in Philosophy’ by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, 

BY A STAFF REPORTER
BUENA PARK, CA- Jain donors in Los Angeles  signed an agreement for establishing  the  Bhagwan Sumatinath and Guru Nanak Postdoctoral Fellowship in Jain and Sikh Studies at San Diego State University. The  signing ceremony was held at the Jain Center of Southern California on Jan 27. 

WASHINGTON,D.C. - An Indian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur, Gurinder Singh Khalsa, has been presented the prestigious Rosa Park Trailblazer award for his campaign to persuade US authorities change their policy towards Sikh headgear. In 2007, Singh was not allowed to board an airplane because of his turban, organisers at the event. After that, he took the issue all the way to the US Congress, 

NEW YORK,NY - The first thought would be that it’s a social awareness campaign ad, to highlight the Sikh community, an effort to fight discrimination based on appearance. However, a huge billboard ad at Times Square featuring an Indian American actor and model, Pritam Singh, 74, with a turban and beard, is a promotional for Dollar Shave Club, a California-based company selling hair grooming, trimming, and maintenance products, according to news reports.

DOWNEY,CA - Bal-Balika of International Shree Swaminarayan Sansthan of Vadtal (ISSSV) Youth winter camp was held at the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir here from Jan 4 to 6, in the presence of Lalji Maharaj and senior sadhus from India as well as sadhus from the Mandir here. The main theme was ‘Day to Day Satsang to Know, Understand, and Connect’. The camp brought together more than 50 children and their parents from across the region to experience a fascinating journey of a child in search of profound...