'It's becoming a bit of a pilgrimage in December in Kerala. On the one hand, you have black-clad Ayyappa devotees. On the other, you have throngs of film enthusiasts showing up. With good reason, too -- this is arguably the best film festival in India, with a good selection of films, with great diversity.'
The police said the women were told that it would be difficult to provide protection to them till the shrine as there was a possibility of protests.
Four years after her controversial claim of touching Lord Ayyappa's idol in the Sabarimala temple triggered a raging storm, Kerala Police has decided to file a charge sheet against Kannada actress Jaimala, who said she would take legal recourse to uphold her 'innocence'.
CSK, with their experience of winning important moments, will certainly make Capitals wary.
In the backdrop of the Pulmedu tragedy, which claimed lives of 102 Sabarimala pilgrims, the Kerala high court on Thursday asked the Tranvacore Devaswom Board that manages the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa, if 'Makara Jyoti' (celestial light) was man-made.
Division bench comprising Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and P S Gopinathan directed the Police, Forest and Travancore Devaswom board to file reports regarding the reasons for the accident.
The special team of the Crime Branch of the Kerala police, which began investigation into Friday's stampede that claimed the lives of 102 Ayyappa pilgrims, will submit its initial report in four days.
Sabarimala Special Commissioner Rajendra Nair said a jeep had ploughed through the pilgrims, who were returning from 'makara samkrama pooja', using a narrow trekking path in a heavily forested hilly area, about 7km from Sabarimala hilltop shrine.
'...that has plants and flowers of all colours and hues in it.' 'Do you think a garden with just one plant or one type of flower will be appealing?' 'No. It will look drab, uninteresting and lustreless because a garden would be captivating only if it had many flowers of different colours.'
A local court has returned the chargesheet filed by police against Kannada actress Jayamala and two others on the ground that it was lacking required documents in the case relating to her claim that she once visited the Sabarimala temple and touched the idol of Lord Ayyappa, defying the custom of the hill temple.
It was another black January 14 for Sabarimala pilgrims with Friday night's stampede tragedy being the third in the history of the hill shrine. The first tragedy shook the shrine on January 14, 1952, when it was gutted in a fire caused by an explosion of fireworks, leaving 66 Ayyappa pilgrims dead. The present shrine was rebuilt in place of the older one. In 1998, 52 pilgrims died following a stampede at Pampa, which also occurred on January 14 after 'Makara Jyothi' darshan.
The terrorist duo David Colman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana had planned to blast two major temples in Kerala -- the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple and Guruyaur Sreekrishna Swami temple -- to spread panic in the state and country, central intelligence sources told rediff.com.
Kerala Devaswom Minister Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government would not support those who make announcements about entering the hill shrine for the sake of publicity.
The Kerala police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Kannada film actress Jayamala and two others in the case relating to her claim that she had touched the idol of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala temple in her prime youth in violation of the hill shrine's custom, which bars entry for women that fall in the ten to 50 age bracket.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L N Rao and Dinesh Maheshwari said it was only going into the aspect of security of the two women -- Bindu and Kanakadurga, and would not like to entertain any other prayer made in the petition.
According to custom, only believers of Hinduism are permitted entry at the temple, a major pilgrim centre and tourist attraction in the southern part of the country.
Interim president of the Congress party in Kerala M M Hassan has courted a controversy with his remarks that menstruation was impure and women should not enter temples during that period.
The RSS leader said he had not violated any customs and claimed that he ascended the 18 steps carrying the sacred offerings.
She was hit on her head by her mother-in-law. She is reportedly stable and has been referred for further tests in the hospital.
Swami Sandeepananda Giri had welcomed the apex court order permitting women in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
Rajeev Srinivasan samples the fare at the 14th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala 2009 underway in Thiruvanathapuram.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
The attacks, which disrupted normal life, marked return of political violence on large-scale after a gap of over a year in Kannur.
After several women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala shrine after the Supreme Court verdict upheld their right to do so, Bindu and Kanakadurga managed the seemingly impossible. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how they did it.
A big win on Saturday will not only will boost Delhi's morale after the 80-run hammering at the hands of CSK but it could also propel the side to the second position in the eight-team standings.
A win for either side will help it consolidate its position at the top and also seal a spot in Qualifier 1.
A confident Delhi are coming off two back-to-back victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore and a strong Kolkata Knight Riders outfit.
In charge of a house in complete disorder, Virat Kohli will hope that Royal Challengers Bangalore play in the manner that defines his cricket when they meet Delhi Capitals in the IPL match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The review petitions would be heard by a constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.
'This government has huge respect for the Supreme Court and when there is going to be a hearing on the review petition, it is appropriate to refrain from taking any action till then.'
Workload management of pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be the focus when Mumbai Indians take on a renamed Delhi Capitals in their first match of the 12th Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Sunday.
Railways caused the biggest upset in this Ranji Trophy season so far, after they defeated domestic giants Mumbai by 10 wickets within three days in their Elite Group B match, in Mumbai, on Friday. Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan (5-60) took five wickets, as Mumbai were bundled out for 198 in their second essay at the Wankhede Stadium, after India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane failed miserably in the second innings as well.
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The apex court said it would endeavour to constitute the larger bench at the earliest to hear the matter.
Rajasekharan resigned from the post as he is keen on contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from Kerala.
In conversation with Jayamala, the first woman president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.
'I want the Supreme Court to give directions to the government of Kerala that they must give protection to all those women who want to enter Sabarimala.'
The bench said the review petition can only be taken up after the Dussehra vacation.
In Jaipur, the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, both second-line HIV drugs, was administered was administered on an elderly Italian couple undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the SMS Hospital.
Skipper Ishant Sharma shone with the ball with three wickets while debutant Kulwant Khejroliya impressed with his pace as Delhi restricted Assam to 224 for seven at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match.
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