As dusk fell, volunteers lit up nearly six lakh diyas lined up on the Saryu riverbank. 'Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records witnessed this grand festival. With 5,84,372 earthen lamps, the event made the world record,' a state government statement said.
The ornaments for the Ram Lalla idol consecrated at the grand Ayodhya temple have been prepared after an extensive research and study of texts such as the Adhyatma Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas and the Alavandar Stotram, according to the temple trust.
The excitement on the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple reverberated across the country as Ram bhakts gathered to to celebrate the groundbreaking occasion. People across the country were seen chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and waving saffron flags. Fireworks were also burst and sweets were distributed to mark the day.
Watch novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explain Sita's story.
Here is a timeline of the second-lengthiest case in the apex court history:
A large number of Koreans trace their ancestry to this legendary princess, who is known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok.
The Sita Ramam star turned showstopper for Marks and Spencer at the Bombay Times Fashion Week.
Days after his shows at a Gurugram bar were called off following threats by right-wing organisations, stand-up comic Kunal Kamra on Sunday wrote an open letter to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), challenging it to condemn Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.
Afsar Dayatar brings you glimpses from the event.
Adityanath spent hours reviewing the arrangements for the ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi, where the temple will be constructed following the go-ahead last year by the Supreme Court.
'She exists alongside Sita, the archetype of the ideal woman,' notes Arundhuti Dasgupta.
'Goddess Laxmi doesn't come just by praying to her.' 'You have to make yourself attractive to Laxmi for her to come to you.'
Fake news, much like the golden deer in the Ramayana, is leading the world into chaos, says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
PM Modi will arrive at 12.30 pm at the Ram Janmbhoomi and take part in various prayers including the main 'bhoomi pujan'. Govind Giriji Maharaj, treasurer of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said that the religious ceremonies will begin from 8.30 am in the morning and will continue till 12.30 pm.
Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport.
During his visit, Mukherjee visited the hotbed of Madhesi protests Janakpur and met ex-servicemen of Gurkha regiments in Pokhra.
Every time a filmmaker wishes to explore history or religion on his or her terms, self-appointed experts and limelight-seeking zealots swoop in to protest, says Sukanya Verma.
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
The counsel stated that from the pillar bases, artefacts, circular shrine, intersecting brickbat walls found in excavation, an inference can be drawn that the massive structure was a temple and not any Islamic structure.
'The appearance of idols of deities inside Babri was not a miracle. It was a planned and surreptitious attack to put them on the intervening night of December 22-23, 1949'
Forget Munnar and Manali, these places in India are worth your time.
Inclusion has never been a straight road and stories from ancient cultures show it has always been a struggle to accord equal status to all genders and species, says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
'John Lasseter gave me such good advice. He said the reason why he wanted me to tell the story was because it was about my dad and me. He said if it is a father and son story, it will relate universally.' Star Pixar animator Sanjay Patel tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com the back story behind his new film, Sanjay's Super Team, which features Hanuman, Vishnu and Durga as superheroes.
'When they disappear -- and disappear they will -- they'll take with them some of the joyous vibrancy of our social fabric.' 'All we can do is enjoy them while they last,' says Geetanjali Krishna.
An international television series is on the anvil says Anand Neelkantan as he shares the challenges of penning The Rise Of Sivagami.
In the documentary The World Before Her, a young girl has to submit to the will of her father for a most gut-wrenching reason: 'He let me live... I am a girl... but he let me live.' Is that reason enough, asks Suparn Verma.
Mythological and historical shows are lapped up not just by the young, but equally by grown men and women.
'All that Maharashtra can give someone whose husband has died is a piece of cloth. That was extremely tragic for me.' 'If you go back historically there is no reference to Maharashtra whereas there is complete reference to Vidarbha.'
