BANGALORE KATUMBA UPDATE Kulapati Jiva Rajasankara: We are looking into some possibilities where we can raise some funds for Iraivan. We don't have the outlet to sell any item in India. We plan to make souvenir items which are really cheap in India and sell them at cost to other missions to raise funds. Last year we release two cassettes, NATASWARAM ON SIVA AND KRITIS ON SIVA. We had send them to Malaysia and to Kauai for sale.Sale proceeds are yet to come. We do have two more master recordings of one Nathswaram (one hour) and Thirupuggal siva songs (one hour). If any mission is interested to reproduce and sell them, please contact us. We will also happy to give the first set of master recording for reproduction. The class that we are conducting has about 30 silpis. This class is progressing a little slow because I need to teach them in Tamil. I have completed about 14 lessons of the Children's course. The silpis are very interested in the games / drama session. The silpis have written their testimonies. I will inform them to write to Gurudeva. We celebrated Guru Purnima very grandly with the silpis. The program for the day was as follows: 6:45 pm Senthilathiban performed the Pada Puja / Abhisegam. During the decorations, Engal Gurunathan was sang . 7.10 Jiva spoke on the importance of Guru Purnima. We then had the Video presentation of Gurudeva as a child. It was then followed by Guru Jayanthi 1998 video. All the silpis really enjoyed both the videos. We had Prasadam with over 10 items of sweets and fruits.

PAKISTAN'S FIRST KNOWN HINDU MIRACLE From Indian Express KARACHI, April 4: Hundreds of Pakistani Hindu devotees are rushing to a small coal mining town in Balochistan province at great expense ever since news spread among the community that the Shankar Bhagwan Murti, which is located in the town, has started drinking milk. The town of Machh, in Balochistan, is known more for its pre-independence jail, the infamous Machh Jail, but the Shankar Bhagwan Murti is currently pulling in hundreds of Hindu devotees rom as far as the Thar desert in Sindh province. Braving temperatures that touch nearly degrees Celsius, Hindu devotees are arriving in Machh on rail and road to witness what they describe as an "ultimate miracle." Shankar Mandir, while of some reverence to most Hindus of the area, has for the first time attracted such crowds. By Thursday, milk had been exhausted in ers all shops of Machh as Hindus purchased in great quantities. The Mandir management, which comprises one pandit and his family, told reporters that by Wednesday, the Shankar Bhagwan Murti hadconsumed over 50 kg of milk. Pilgrims are hoping that the Murti will drink the milk that they offer it. "This is a holy sign that our wishes and dreams will come true," said Jai Krishan, a devotee, who works as a government employee in the provincial capital Quetta, over 500 km away. This is Pakistan's first known Hindu miracle. Machh has a sizeable Hindu population along with adjoining areas, including Kolpur. Local Muslim --Expresidents also arrived at the temple to see the miracle in progress but were not able to do so because of the sudden The Burush within the frail building. The district administration has told authorities in the provincial capital, dia Quetta, that they are fearful that the Mandir building will collapse because of the mad rush. They have also said that there is a possibility that food prices will start escalating rapidly as Machh town has limited food supplies, owing to the small population.

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