A court in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has granted the same legal rights as a human to the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, considered sacred by nearly a billion Indians.

If you’ve started to notice clouds of color every spring, it’s not your imagination. The Hindu festival of Holi (pronounced “holy”), which involves throwing brightly colored powders, is spreading around the globe, says Ravi M. Gupta, a religion professor at Utah State University. “It’s well known now. I don’t need to tell my students what Holi is. It has spawned this whole industry of colorfests and charity color runs.”

The company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is facing a familiar legal battle over its proposed Rover Pipeline. A Hare Krishna community in West Virginia is challenging the project on religious grounds, saying that the pipeline's planned route could cut through sacred lands. While the religious organization signed leases in 2010 and 2014 to sell the natural gas under its properties, according to its federal lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Wheeling on Tuesday, those leases do not allow for any surface disturbances and blocks off sacred areas from outside intrusion.

An interreligious dialog, held in ISKCON Germany/Austria’s headquarters near Frankfurt from April 21^st to 23^rd, will discuss the very topical question, ‘Religion: Peacemaker or Cause of War?” This will be the third annual such event organized by ISKCON and Religions for Peace, the largest international coalition of world religion representatives dedicated to promoting peace. About 100 people will attend this April’s event

The Nagara Sankirtana party of Ibadan, Nigeria became West Africa’s book distribution marathon champion for 2016. The sankirtan party led by Yadhunath Das has distributed 901 books in December. The Nagara Sankirtan project started off in 2015 with the purpose of reviving the Harinama Sankirtana spirit initially in West Africa, by providing special support and care for book distribution devotees, who are serving and traveling in groups.

On Saturday January 14^th, Sura Das of ISKCON Los Angeles was invited to speak at Culver City’s 12^th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Culver City Hall.  Sura serves as the secretary and treasurer of the Interfaith Council of West Los Angeles, and represents ISKCON Los Angeles on the Council. This theme of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration was “Peaceful Warriors for Positive Change.” 

2016 was a significant year for Indian Americans in politics. Five Indian Americans, a record number, were elected to U.S. Congress. To celebrate the milestone, fellow members of Congress, dignitaries and supporters, including ISKCON, gathered at the Indiaspora Gala on January 3^rd in Washington, D.C.  The bipartisan event highlighted the increasing significance of the Indian-American community in the country’s political landscape. It also welcomed members of the new administration and allowed new and current members to build relationships and strengthen ties. 

ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) won a prestigious United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Award for India on 18^th January in Madrid, leading over 55 countries in the category of ‘Innovation in Non-Governmental Organizations’. The UNWTO awards are recognized as one of the world’s most coveted awards in the global tourism sector. The 13^th edition of this award saw 139 applications from 55 countries.

Prabhupada Taught Us ABCD