Palak, The daughter of our Hinduism Today Delhi correspondent Rajiv Malik, was sent on assignment by her publication in India to Singapore. There the Dohadeva Shanmugam family happily hosted her for a few days. here they are with Dohadeva and Nagavathy.

Palak and Nagavathy

For those who have not heard yet, a few days ago the April issue of Hinduism Today was released. See: http://www.hinduismtoday.com

As always, the Global Dharma pages have some interesting small stories from around the world.

The world continues to “wake up” to the huge legacy that Hinduism left throughout Southeast Asia. Here is a little known story from Vietnam:

Vietnam

UNESCO Protects My Son

In 1999 unesco designated the My Son sanctuary in Vietnam a World Heritage site. This is good news for Hindus, who can now rest assured that this treasure will be preserved. The site represents an ancient settlement and sanctuary area; eight groups of tower temples have been singled out. All are constructed in fired brick with stone pillars.

The Hindu architecture of Cambodia and Indonesia are well known, but not many know that a Hindu kingdom also reigned along the Vietnamese coast from the 4th to the 13th centuries. My Son, a small valley flanked by mountains, was the capital and religious center of the Champa Kingdom, which originated in 192 ce and was deeply influenced by the Saiva Agama tradition. Between the sixth and tenth centuries, fine temples were built for Krishna and Vishnu, but above all for Siva. Champa was eventually absorbed by the growing power of Vietnam to the North. Read more at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/949