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.
Rediff.com takes a look at the devout flock that attends the Simhastha Kumbh Mela to take a dip into the holy waters and purify themselves.
'There will always be hiccups given that the Namami Gange programme is spread over different sectors and involves several agencies.'
The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday recommended the Centre that the cow be made the national animal, further adding that the punishment for cow slaughter should be escalated to life imprisonment.
The people of the southern part of the country could see a greater part of the partial solar eclipse because of the geometry of the eclipse path.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today accused the National Democratic Alliance government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a "Hindutva project" by attempting to polarise politics through the initiative on the holy river.
Every year, for thousands of years, the Sonepur Mela, transforms a small rural town in north Bihar into a giant fair.
Images from the Bhanga Mela, India's only e-waste market.
The incident, initially reported as a stampede, occurred when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata.
Dips in the Kshipra river during Simhastha are said to wash away all sins!
If everyone had decent meaningful jobs, the rally maidans would be largely empty and, save for the Akhara babas and curious foreigners and the devout senior citizens, not very many would spare time for the Kumbh Mela, says Mahesh Vyas.
After several years of travelling, Guru Nanak settled down at Kartarpur as a farmer. His followers were the first Sikhs of an order that was to prevail for many years to come. A fascinating excerpt from Sikh Heritage: A History of Valour and Devotion.
The festival is billed as the largest gathering of humanity on earth, with 110 million people expected to attend over 49 days. But for the thousands who get lost among the crowds, help is at hand and has been since 1946.
'Though the river is cleaner than what it was five years ago, a lot more needs to be done.'
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.
The VHP will focus on non-religious topics and give the Ram temple a miss at the three-day Vaicharik Kumbh, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shashikant Trivedi reports.
'Rich Indians don't give cash, they give gold. Why?' 'Because cash is spent by temples on prasad or doing some charitable work.' 'Gold remains intact with god,' says Aakar Patel.
The logic behind the BJP targeting Mayawati's votes.
She has been losing her party's core voters since the 2007 assembly polls, whereas the Samajwadi Party has managed to keep its flock together. The BJP believes she is a soft target.
Let's take you on a fun journey on kites and Sankranti traditions and guess what? You can learn a thing or two about financial planning from it as well.
'The Ganga must be kept above all divisive politics,' says Uma Bharti.
Celebrations in Mutharamman Temple in Kulasekharapattinam, a coastal town in Tamil Nadu, have devotees visit the temple in an avatar of their choice. They could be dressed as kings or beggars, monkeys or demons, but the more popular is different forms of the Devi.
Most top industrialists rate PM's first 100 days in office as 'good', primarily due to his intentions, not concrete policy measures.
The calculated playing up of confidence by Amit Shah and his team obviously means that the BJP has a strong counter-strategy in place to turn the tables on the Congress before the monsoon session is over, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
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