Tensions between Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have drawn national attention in recent months.
Pavan K Varma, diplomat, writer and politician, embarks on a quest about Hinduism's great thinker's stay in Varanasi.
He said that just as there are rules related to religious conduct in mosques and churches, there are also traditional rules in Hindu religious places.
Sri Satya Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya, a 25-year-old Rig Vedic scholar from Andhra Pradesh, was anointed as the junior pontiff of the ancient Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam at a grand religious ceremony. The historic event took place on the auspicious Akshya Thritiya, attended by seers from across the country. The new acharya, known as Ganesha Sharma Dravid before his initiation into sanyasa, is the successor to the present Seer Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya. The event coincided with the 2534th Jayanti Mahotsavam (May 2, 2025) of Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya, who established Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in 482 BCE.
'The idol was not being worshipped for years. We decided to immerse it respectfully in the Ganga.'
Modi said he was at a loss of words to describe what he felt while he was sitting before the statue.
'Raj Thackeray is working at the behest of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
The plea said there is a deliberate attempt to ensure that the proceedings before this court become infructuous and a person who is not qualified and is ineligible, unauthorisedly assumes the office.
After five years of wait, Shree Sharadamba Hindu Temple complex, built at a whopping cost of 11 million dollars to stand as "a testament to Canada and India's proud traditions of pluralism," was finally opened for the public in Toronto. The complex which consists of the Sringeri Sharadamba Temple and the Adi Shankara Museum, was consecrated on Sunday in a ritual known as "Kumbhabhishekam." The complex is the first in Canada that is dedicated to Adi Shankaracharya.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Kedarnath in Rudraprayag on Monday, November 6, 2023.
Take our quiz to test your knowledge about the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand.
Swami Swaroopanand, who was the Shankracharya of Dwarka, Sharda, and Jyotish Peeth, was not keeping well for over a year, his aide said.
The mega corridor, whose foundation stone was laid by Modi on March 8, 2019, connects the main temple with Lalita Ghat via a corridor, and grand gateways and ornamental arches have been built in heritage architecture style in four directions, facing the ancient temple at its core.
Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, who was the chief priest during the inauguration of the Jagannath Temple at Digha on April 30, on Friday joined the voices demanding withdrawal of the 'Jagannath Dham' phrase attached to the new temple in West Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the famous Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district on Friday.
'It is exceptionally important for Hindus to once again get in touch with the foundation of Hinduism.' 'Aggressive evangelists are reducing Hinduism to its lowest common denominator.'
The decision will be taken by the trust in consultation with Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati and other seers, trust functionaries said.
Addressing a gathering of priests and devotees, he said the redevelopment of centres of faith in India shows the country's growing pride in its ancient saints and philosophers like Adi Guru Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda.
Yogiraj's brother Suryaprakash said it was a memorable day for the family.
During the winter, Badrinath's 45 kg of gold and 35 kg of silver is kept at the Narsingh temple in Joshimath, located about half a kilometre from the houses which have developed cracks because of the subsidence.
"I have always felt that Lord Ram has been shielding me and my family from all the bad times and I strongly believe that it is him, who chose me for the auspicious task," Yogiraj, who has received effusive praise for his work, told PTI.
'All hydropower projects in the Himalayan region must be stopped.' 'Joshimath is not alone.'
Covid restrictions notwithstanding, the city's creative spirit reflects in the pandal created by the Bandra West Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal.
'Aurangzeb supported construction of the Kumarswamy math and the reconstruction of the Kedar temple and supported the Jangambadi math in Banaras.'
While there was unrest in the rest of the Kashmir valley, the Dal Lake was serene and peaceful.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
These human interventions in nature, along with climate change, are responsible for the disaster faced by the pilgrim town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, which is sinking, he said.
According to a police official, the incident occurred when Grover along with the local BJP leaders reached the temple complex as part of their plan to watch from there the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling a statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the seer's rebuilt samadhi in Kedarnath.
Rejecting neighbouring West Bengal's claim over the Rasgulla, the Odisha govenrment has said that the sweet dish was available in state's mutts and temples for centuries.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders condoled the death of the seer.
'The cracks I saw yesterday were the largest I have seen in my life. We are scared.'
Modi said Ramakrishna Paramhansa was one saint who had a clear vision of her and his disciple Swami Vivekananda had also felt the spiritual vision about the goddess, which infused into him extraordinary energy and strength.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday visited Kedarnath to review the preparations in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Himalayan temple on November 5.
'The problem is that all this reconstruction work is being monitored by the prime minister himself with inputs being provided directly by the PMO so nobody in the state government dare contradict them even if their suggestions are totally contrary to what the ecology of this region requires.'
The ultimate consequences of Rahul Gandhi's yatra may be known only in 2024, points out Dr Sudhir Bisht.
After arriving in Kedarnath, Modi watched a brief documentary detailing the reconstruction work carried out at the Himalayan temple after the devastating deluge of 2013 and then entered the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine.
'Lives are lost and the social fabric is torn. The progress of the nation comes to a grinding halt.'
'Manmohan Singh's fond hope of avoiding conflict over territory by 'making borders irrelevant' is increasingly difficult to realise in a world where institutional restraints on aggression are weakening and the new game in town is unalloyed power play,' notes T N Ninan.
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