Even the saffron-clad Swami Hari Chaitanya, who was spearheading the much-hyped 'Clean Ganga' campaign, eventually gave up his boycott call.
The nine-day Mahamaham festival, known as the 'Kumbh Mela of the south', concluded In Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu on Monday, with conduct of the most important event 'theerthavari', witnessed by lakhs of people.
Actor Mamta Kulkarni has renounced the worldly life at the Maha Kumbh and will be consecrated as a Hindu nun under the Kinnar Akhara. She performed her own 'Pind Daan' and will be consecrated as 'mahamandaleshwar'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented gifts from Sri Ranganath Swamy temple in Tiruchirapalli to the newly constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and a host of other ministers also took a holy dip on the occasion.
Lakhs of devotees on Thursday thronged the Ganga banks in Haridwar, including Har Ki Pauri, to take a dip in the sacred river on the occasion of Makar Sankranti which also marks the first major bath of the ongoing Ardhakumbh mela in Uttarakhand.
The 10-day long event, called Mahamaham, will take place in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Centre and city government on a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the authorities to use the "proper meaning" of the term "religion' and not use it as a synonym of "dharma" in official documents.
Security measures have been heightened in Prayagraj and surrounding areas for the auspicious occasion.
he one-and-a-half-month-long Kumbh Mela ended on Monday with devotees from different walks of life and parts of the country taking a holy dip on Mahashivratri.
Here are glimpses of some of the celebrations.
Officials said almost all the ministers present at meeting took the holy dip.
Take our quiz to test your knowledge about the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand.
The hanging of Afzal Guru has prompted the Uttar Pradesh government to beef up security in and around the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, where nearly two crore people are expected to be converging over the next 24 hours to take a dip on what is considered the 'most auspicious' day of the 55-day-long festival that began on January 14.
Let Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary inspire you to create some delicious, homemade mithai or sweetmeats for Holi.
From the Sensex basket, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Infosys and Reliance Industries were the major laggards. Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
A division bench of Justices A S Oka and V L Achliya said the state government will have to take prior permission from the court if it wanted to use the dam water for Kumbh Mela.
Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary of the Khandani Rajdhani has special Holi recipes for you.
Saha said BJP is confident about winning the assembly elections due this year.
The partial solar eclipse is being observed in several parts of the country with Srinagar witnessing the maximum obscuration of the solar disc at 55 per cent.
For the smart phone industry, it has been a lacklustre quarter of CY2024, with sales falling by 3-4 per cent over the same period last year, according to Counterpoint Research projections. However, with the launch of many new models in Q1 of CY24, overall shipments grew year-on-year by 10-12 per cent. In CY23 shipments remained flat, ending the year with 152 million units.
Over eight lakh devotees from all over the country have so far taken the holy dip in the Ganges on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti on Sunday, officials said.
Rama and Sita entered a wonderful maze of lit streets, and when Bharatha caught sight of them as he ran down the steps of the palace, the whole city was chiming with celebration with this festival of lights. A fascinating excerpt from Vayu Naidu's book, The Living Legend.
While the Congress top brass has declined the invitation to the January 22 consecration ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram temple, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit plans to go ahead with its own event a week earlier in the holy town.
"People were walking on the footbridge when suddenly police charged with batons. Because of that baton charge, the public panicked and the stampede happened. In that stampede these people were killed," eyewitness Amit Kumar said.
Mela Inspector General Sanjay Gunjyal also said the religious event formally began on April 1 by which time the second wave of Covid was already raging in states like Maharashtra and Haryana.
Reader Aditi Bahl shares her favourite Holi recipe. You can share yours too!
While 14 bodies have been recovered, five were still missing, they said.
The airport has been stopping operations and rescheduling flights twice in every year for decades to enable the bi-annual centuries-old ceremonial procession of the famous Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram to pass through the runway.
The last auspicious day of the ongoing Kumbh Mela was full of action
Delhi recorded a cold wave for the second consecutive day on Friday, with the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi plunging to a numbing 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Braving scorching heat, a multitude of sadhus along with their disciples chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' took 'shahi snan' (royal bath) at Ramghat in Shipra river in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain on Friday.
Braving the winter chill, thousands of devotees on Thursday took a holy dip in the Ganga in Haridwar heralding the start of the three-month-long Maha Kumbh, considered the largest religious congregation that takes place once in 12 years.
Consumer companies see Rs 1,500-crore sales opportunity.
Amid the shadow of the third wave of COVID-19, people of India marked different festivals across the country.
During their visit to the holy city, the Congress leaders will take a dip in Saryu river, and then visit the Ram temple and Hanumangarhi temple, Rai said on Sunday.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be 'stopped' if he indulges in politics during his visit to the ongoing Mahakumbh next week, a senior leader from the ruling Samajwadi Party said on Wednesday.
The Maha Kumbh began on Monday morning with lakhs of devotees as well as ascetics and religious leaders of various orders converging on the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati in Allahabad for a holy dip on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
The stampede occurred as thousands of pilgrims gathered in Kasiani of Gopalganj district, about 200 km southwest of Dhaka, to take a holy dip, the officials added.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances