.jpg)
A country as diverse as India has some of the strangest rituals and traditions. From bizarre ways to cure illnesses to an unusual matrimony to please the rain gods...the things people do here must be seen to be believed.
The traditional male dancers of Rajasthan produce seductive movement that has colour and beat.
Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, along with his disciples, paid obeisance to the idols on their respective chariots.
Amid tight security arrangements, the annual Amarnath yatra commenced from Jammu as the first batch of 1,280 pilgrims left for the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas.
Sensing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's attempts to rekindle Ayodhya sentiments, the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh has banned a meeting to mark the 25th death anniversary of brothers, Ram and Sharad Kothari, who fell to police bullets while performing the symbolic kar sewa on November 2, 1990 -- two years before the Babri Masjid was brought down.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries greeted the people on Lord Jagannath's annual car festival.
Chocolate majors, home and surface cleaning companies, beauty brands say that business has been brisk this festive season.
As Kerala gets into the festive mood, police are maintaining tight vigil with the army receiving information that there may be a terror attack in southern parts of the country.
People in different parts of the country have already started celebrating the festival of colours.
The DMK feels its genuine gestures have had no bearing on the governor's politico-administrative conduct, which is 'more political and politicised than administrative and Constitutional', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If businesses are focused on de-leveraging, they can hardly be investing. This is the price extracted by investment mistakes during UPA rule, and should have been foreseen. 'But Modi-I must share the blame, for muted reform of the financial sector, partisan policy in telecom, the harm done to exports by an over-priced rupee, and so on,' says T N Ninan.
For a country with a huge atheist vote bank, relatively few claim to be irreligious, says Devangshu Datta
The rise in India's relative attractions lie in the precipitous decline in safety of the more popular destinations, notes Kanika Datta.
The Nikkei share average rose 2.6% to close at 15,195.77 points, more than recouping Tuesday's losses.
Putting Indian markets on fire, the foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 1-lakh crore of so-called 'hot money' into stocks during 2014 -- taking their cumulative net investments here beyond Rs 10 lakh crore.
