Sri Nathji gazes down at the thousands of pilgrims who have decided to use their July 4th long weekend to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his installation in New Vrindaban, West Virginia. His mischievous smile captures their hearts instantly, and as they look up at him, with his left hand raised and holding a flower symbolizing Govardhana Hill, they wonder at how “The Master of All Creation” can look just like a charming young cowherd boy.

The spiritual path can be a rewarding yet difficult one. There comes a time when all of us need need a shoulder to lean on, a friendly push in the right direction, or a few strong words of encouragement. Oh, wouldn’t it be great if every time you stumbled in your faith, you could just open up your instant messenger and talk to someone would could help you right back up?

Disciples and admirers of the late Bhakti Tirtha Swami in Benin, Nigeria honored him with a memorial festival on June 27, the day of his passing. True to Vaishnava tradition, the event was a joyful one, attended by devotees from many countries across West Africa.

Its official: Mike Myers’s raunchy take on Eastern spirituality, The Love Guru, has some seriously bad box-office karma. Although the film was accused of being anti-Hindu even before its release, the poor ticket sales seem to have more to do with the lowbrow jokes and tired bathroom humor than religious insensitivity.

MATHURA: Conservation efforts in this Hindu holy town - said to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna - have received a big boost, with a court banning mining operations in the area.

When pilgrims visit some of the shrines associated with Krishna-Radha lore, they will not fail to notice structural changes to restore, rejuvenate and conserve the ecology of the area.

A celebration of all things bovine is underway as part of Britain's first ever cow carnival.

The event, organised to celebrate the cow and everything associated with the animal, is being held at Bhaktivedanta Manor, in Letchmore Heath, this afternoon.

SPANISH FORK — Llamas are native to lands far from where Hinduism originated, but in these docile creatures, Charu Das sees an exemplary adherence to one of the main tenants of his faith: tolerance.

"There's only so much you can do about your environment," said Das, 61, who manages the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. "We can't make it dark at noon, we can't make it light at midnight. ... Our response should not always be to control nature. It's better to learn to tolerate, just like animals."

VRINDAVAN: Noted for its numerous temples, the holy land of Vrindavan in Mathura district, where Lord Krishna spent his childhood, has seen a huge increase in pilgrims and tourists in recent years.

However, over-flowing drains, strewn garbage and crowded, littered streets is what greets the thousands of pilgrims who visit this historic place every year.

MUMBAI, INDIA (IT) — Colors to advertise new TV channel and "mythological" Jai Sri Krishna in both McDonalds and ISKCON temples.

Colors, the new entrant in the Hindi general entertainment GEC) space, has a launch marketing and promotion budget of Rs 350-450 million, sources in the industry say. The plan includes a high profile coverage in top 90 cities and towns, spread across the Hindi speaking markets.

Nicole Swift, of Yarramundi, on the Hawkesbury, has no difficulty with the idea that one day Australia's horses - so brusquely brushed aside by the motor car a century ago - may come back into their own as a source of transport and power.

Unthinkable it might seem. But with fuel prices pushing up to perhaps $8 a litre in the next 10 years, stocks drying up and alternative sources of energy problematic, an eye might well be turned to the animal that has served mankind since the dawn of civilisation.

As sacred tour guide Dina Bandhu Dasa approached Varsana, the legendary home of Lord Krishna’s consort Radharani, dusk was falling; but the festivities were only beginning.

Dina Bandhu is one of the privileged few westerners who know about the annual Phul Bangalas – flower palaces – and Kavi Sanmelans – poetry recitals – demonstrated at Varsana and Nandagram, the village of Krishna’s adoptive father Nanda Maharaja.

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. -- Sujoy Bhowmik lives in two worlds.

On most days, he is a pharmacist at a CVS in Columbus. Other days, he is Narottama Das, a devotee of Hare Krishna, who finds peace in West Virginia at the Palace of Gold.

Once a religion whose members gave their life to the movement, the Hare Krishnas today welcome the most devoted people and the casual follower. In the 1970s, many of the members lived in communes. Now many, like Bhowmik, have careers and live outside the movement but are still devoted to their religion.

It is interesting that the US and UK style themselves as “liberators” of Iraq. Subtly implied in this euphemistic term is the assumption that we are ourselves already liberated, in a position to bestow our happy state on others. And that is surely a commonly held assumption in the West. We view ourselves as having the most progressive and free societies. But how true is this?