To conserve the environment, the Akhara Council has decided to put a ban on the use of plastic items and loudspeakers at the venue of the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Nashik.
Every year has its share of duds and turkeys. 2024 was no different except that even the rotten ones are too drab to have any real offence value.
Maha Kumbh Mela, that began at Sangam in Allahabad on the Makar Sankranti day on Monday, is expected to attract nearly 11 crore people, setting a new record for world's largest gathering. Sharat Pradhan reports from the evnie of the mega 55-day festival.
Nashik, the venue of the mela, has been experiencing incessant rains since July 26.
A camp set up at Kumbh Mela ground for Asaram Bapu's discourse was vandalised while several outfits have opposed the proposed visit of the self-styled godman, who has drawn flak for his remarks on the Delhi gang rape victim, at the religious congregation.
Four people were reportedly killed after a stampede broke out during a procession at the Kumbh Mela's Juna Akhada in Haridwar on Wednesday morning.It has been reported that the stampede took place following a brawl between the priests and the devotees over the removal of a vehicle.There are reports that two women were among the devotees killed in the ensuing stampede and several others were injured. The stampede took place on the last day of the Shahi Snan.
At least seven pilgrims were killed and nine injured, four of them seriously, when a stampede broke out at the Gangasagar mela in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal early on Thursday.
The Gangasagar pilgrimage and fair is the second largest congregation of mankind after the holy Kumbha Mela at Prayag.
Violators will have to pay a Rs 2,000 fine for the first offence and Rs 5,000 if they defy this order for the second time, Ujjain Mayor Mukesh Tatwal said on Saturday.
"Seven people have been killed and 90 injured in and around the Mela area," district collector Kavindra Kiyawat told PTI. The second Shahi-Snan is due on May 9.
Rediff.com's Sharat Pradhan who is visiting the Magh Mela, witnessed the Naga babas busy twiddling away on their smartphones, corresponding with their supporters, using modern techniques such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
Over 20 fire tenders fought the flames for over two hours, sources said.
The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
Thousands of sadhus and sants from across India have congregated in Haridwar to attend the Purna Kumbh Mela at Haridwar.Many of them participated in the Chaitra Purnima Snan at Har ki Pauri, the main ghaat in Haridwar, on Tuesday.
Dhanatrayodashi is called Dhanteras and its twinkling lights set the mood of India's greatest and most popular festival -- Diwali, the festival of lights.
The NDA government will be following the footsteps of its predecessor, the UPA, which had introduced the concept of "loan mela" to boost credit by directing banks to lend to people through public meetings.
Further, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the banks have sufficient liquidity, and efforts are being made to ensure that due payments are released to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by large corporates.
The mosque's maulana and the mazar's caretakers said they were not aware of any administrative order in this regard and claimed this was for the first time that such a step had been taken during the yatra.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will arrive in Mumbai on Tuesday to inaugurate the Swadeshi Mela-2003 at the sprawling Somaiya Trust grounds.\n\n\n\n
A couple of glimpses from the moustache competition at the camel fair in Pushkar on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
Ramdev said one does not need to hide their name, but do one's work with truth and honesty.
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
All you wanted to know about the Kumbh Mela
The Naga Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela happen to be the most low-profile and reclusive bunch of saints at the religious gathering.
Draped in red and saffron robes, flaunting long untidy hair, beard and some long nails too, these tantriks (magicians) are standing out among the teeming devotees.
Coming after a gap of 12 years, the royal bath was accompanied by frenzied chants by Naga sadhus belonging to ten akharas (centres of congregation).
Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde performed the dhwajarohan (flag-hoisting) ceremony at Ramkunda on the banks of Godavari River.
'Dinesh has left us around 12:08 am. We know that he had liver issues and it had an impact on the other organs.'
Mihir Shah, the prime accused in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case and son of a Shiv Sena politician, has told the police he was driving the car at the time of the crash which killed a woman and injured her husband, officials said on Wednesday citing probe carried out so far.
An air ambulance ofIndian Air Force successfully evacuated eight persons, injured in a fire at Kumbh Mela, for emergency medical attention in the national capital.
'This year overall hiring has seen a slight improvement as compared to the dip seen during the last financial year.'
A bonfire lit by some devotees to beat the cold could have spread to bushes at the foot of the Kailash hill, atop which several VIPs, sadhus and sants were staying in tents.
Capturing the shades of India on Monday, February 20, 2023.
Lost siblings in the Kumbh Mela were once a recurrent theme in Hindi films, but in these modern times, mobile phones are coming to the rescue of many who get separated from friends or families in the world's largest religious gathering. Almost 10 times a minute, the public address system at Hardiwar sets cracking about Raj from Jammu or Koki from Haryana, who are lost or have lost someone close in the sea of humanity.But in modern times, technology helps pilgrims keep track.
Sadhus of various akhadas of the Vaishnava sect reached Ramkund in a royal procession carrying golden idols of deities, traditional flags and spears with silver rods.
With the surge in tourist footfalls to Varanasi in 2022, it almost rivals the arrivals in Agra and puts it way ahead of Prayagraj and Ayodhya.
'The first job you pick up may not be your ultimate dream job.' 'When the situation is no job or any job, my advice to them will be, pick up any job at the moment.' 'You should use that job as a learning experience.' 'It is easier to find a job when you are working somewhere than when you are sitting at home with no work.'
A purported video of three monks being attacked by a mob in West Bengal's Purulia over suspicion that they were 'kidnappers in disguise' has triggered a political row, with opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alleging collapse of law and order in the state.
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