'I was fortunate to have served as India's ambassador to Indonesia and witnessed on several occasions, the incredible performances of the Ramayana and episodes from the Mahabharata in Jogjakarta and in Bali,' recalls former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'Maybe it was its (India's) sheer size, with one-sixth of the world's population, an estimated two thousand distinct ethnic groups, and more than seven hundred languages spoken,' Obama writes on his fascination of India in his latest book A Promised Land.
Anandiben Patel said students should study ancient Indian texts to appreciate the unparalleled research and discoveries made by their ancestors.
The Uttar Pradesh government has said that over 65 crore people visited the sacred site in Prayagraj since the Maha Kumbh began on January 13.
From Lord Ram's birthplace to where Sita was held captive by Ravana, this trip will be full of mythical stories.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
Debroy's economic interests and research work covered numerous areas such as economic theory, income inequality, and infrastructure financing.
Despite being set in different yugas, there are characters who appear in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
The Indian Institute of India (IIT) Bombay has imposed a fine of up to Rs 1.2 lakh on eight students, who performed a play that allegedly mocked Lord Ram and portrayed the Ramayana in a bad light, a fellow student said on Thursday.
'There is nothing wrong in accepting Rama as a God.' 'You will not get to read a story as deep as Valmiki's Ramayana in which he talks about complex relations, strong emotions, pain, desertion and unconditional love. Whether you depict Rama as a human being or a divine person, the Ramayana is an epic with a great human story.' 'It is not religious intolerance at all; this is part of political power and polarisation. A religious person will never act intolerant towards another religion.'
'If you just listen to the lyrics, they're so simple. It's definitely a great philosophy to live life by.'
The external affairs minister also recalled how Pandit Nehru was hesitant in taking assistance from the United States following the 1962 war with China as he was unsure how it would be seen.
'When I started to step into the West in 2006, I believed India was not going to be the back end.' 'I understood that no film-maker wants to believe that they are outsourcing their creativity to a low-end place.' 'The application of technology in the hands of our Indian artistes is identical to any of our artists in the West.' 'Nobody in the world can say this shot was done in India and that in London.'
Notwithstanding the dispute over the existence of Ram Sethu, Sri Lankan Tourism has come out with a novel idea of identifying some 50 sacred places as cited in Valmiki Ramayana, to attract more Indian tourists to the Island nation.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) chairman Bibek Debroy passed away this morning, a senior EAC-PM official said. He was admitted to AIIMS. Debroy (69) was educated in Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur; Presidency College, Kolkata; Delhi School of Economics; and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Another trend: A preference for coloured diamonds among brides, who are pairing them with their groom's birthstone. So, along with yellow or white diamonds, they are choosing pink, green, blue sapphires, emeralds or red rubies.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
A fascinating excerpt from Shantanu Gupta's book, Teachings from the Ramayana on Family & Life.
Bibek Debroy was one of the very few economists not bound by any single area of expertise and was simultaneously curious about economics and politics, myths and maths, chess and chemistry, and what not, remembers Laveesh Bhandari.
The stamps are not merely a piece of paper or artwork but they are a miniature form of epics and great ideas, he said in a video message.
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.
Some elements are creating obstacles in the path of India's development and are fearful of its rise on the global stage, but they will not succeed, he asserted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Arichalmunai, a southern tip in Tamil Nadu, in Rameswaram as part of his Ramayana-connect visits in the state, and paid floral tributes at the seashore.
Gandhi will now be seen in two upcoming OTT series -- Hansal Mehta's Gandhi, starring Pratik Gandhi in the title role, and Freedom at Midnight by Nikkhil Advani.
Yechury recounted the non-violent traditions of the country citing the Maurya Empire's acceptance of the Buddhist philosophy.
'The core group from Pune, which bought arms, trained people, carried out intelligence gathering and participated in all the stages of the battle, consisted of RSS volunteers.' 'The Pune group raised resources with the help of three stalwarts from the film industry.' 'The stalwarts were Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and C Ramchandra.'
All arrangements, including heavy security, are in place for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 45-hour stay at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on Thursday, as he would sit on meditation at the place named after the revered Hindu saint.
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday expressed concern over the way key characters of the epic Ramayana have been depicted in the controversial movie Adipurush, saying, "Hindus are tolerant but why they are tested every time?"
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
"I follow Ramayana, Quran, Bible and Guru Granth Sahib... I do not do drama by visiting poor people's homes to eat food brought from outside," she said.
There is definitely much more to the mythical king than his ten heads and his abduction of Sita.
Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma said the government will not be deterred by criticism that it was trying to promote RSS ideology.
'Besides Ayodhya, the BJP lost in nine other constituencies with a Ramayana imprint; it tasted success only in Thrissur.' 'In Rameswaram, K Navaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League won with a 44% voteshare in a 84% Hindu constituency.' 'In the 21 seats in the Ayodhya and Varanasi regions, both crucial to the Hindutva project, the BJP won just 7.' 'It won just 3 out of 12 seats around Modi's constituency,' points out Krishna Prasad.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
The enduring legacy of trade routes lies in shared stories and religious diversity. Can the India-Middle East-Europe Economic corridor harness this legacy to empower nations, asks Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, paced up and down his 14x8 feet cell on his first night in Tihar jail, managing only to sleep for a while, a prison official said.
The Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple showed India's secular character to the world, Shah said.
The resolution noted that the Ram temple is a symbol of India's vision, philosophy and path. "Shri Ram temple has truly become a temple of national consciousness," it said and added that every Indian was happy to see the divine consecration of Lord Shri Ram.
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
To truly understand Ayodhya's soul, Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com spoke to Ayodhya nivasis to find out how they respond to the new Ram temple in their midst, and the changes in their lives.
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