"Karthik Pandey, a student leader, came to me and started hurling abuses and casteist slurs at me and hit me," Professor Ravi Kant Chandan of the university's Hindi department said.
A court in Varanasi on Friday directed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a "detailed scientific survey" -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple is built upon a temple.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ventured out on the streets of Varanasi in the early hours of Tuesday and visited the just-inaugurated Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the Banaras railway station.
The idol of the goddess was taken to the temple in a silver palanquin, shouldered by Adityanath.
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday urged a Varanasi court not to make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, according to the lawyer for the Hindu side.
After Ajay Devgn sought blessings at the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Abhishek Bachchan made a stopover there as well.
'Why were they silent when over 128 temples and shrines including Shivlings were broken down at the time of the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor?' a Varanasi resident asks Rashme Sehgal.
Modi lauded the civilisational heritage of Varanasi, and said many sultanates rose and collapsed but Benaras remained.
Ajay Devgn's Drishyam 2 is doing wonders at the box office and the actor is grateful to the Gods.
District judge A K Vishvesh on Friday directed the ASI to conduct a detailed scientific survey -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is built upon a temple.
Advani and Dr Joshi might not attend the consecration ceremony due to health and age-related reasons. Advani is 96 and Dr Joshi will turn 90 next month.
'There was a strong undercurrent of deprivation, and also frustration against misuse of power and authority.' 'This election was an opportunity for the manifestation of this discontentment.'
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal of the Gyanvapi management committee against an Allahabad High Court order which held that lawsuits for "restoration" of a temple where the mosque stands in Varanasi are maintainable.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
The survey was stalled last week amid objections by the mosque committee, which claimed that the advocate commissioner appointed by the court for the survey did not have the mandate to film inside the premises.
The ASI had on Wednesday urged the court not to make its Gyanvapi complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, citing the December 19 judgment of the Allahabad high court.
The ASI, which was to submit the report of the survey by October 6, now has time till November 6 to do so.
The train connects Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru.
According to the counsel for the Hindu side Madan Mohan Yadav, the ASI sought more time due to non-availability of the technical report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
The electoral battle in Varanasi, according to locals and political experts, is not about whether the PM will win for a third successive occasion, but if he will increase his share of the votes polled and his win margin.
The ASI on Wednesday urged the court not to make its report public for at least four more weeks.
Jitendra Singh Visen, president of Vishwa Vaidik Sanatan Sangh, however, refused to divulge the reason behind the decision.
Modi also accused previous government of neglecting the pilgrim city and said criminals had a free in the state.
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday extended the interim stay till September 30 on a Varanasi court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a physical survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex and further proceedings in this case.
The ASI told the court on November 2 that it might take some more time to compile the report, along with the details of the equipment used in the survey work, following which additional time till November 17 was granted for the submission of the document.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the spectacular Ganga 'aarti' in Varanasi on Monday evening while on board a river cruise with chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
Temple priest Gaurav Goshwami said limited number of devotees should be allowed inside the shrine at a time and a barrier system should put in place outside it to manage crowd.
As Mumbai immerses in prayer and celebration for the next 10 days, Satish Bodas/Rediff.com visits four of the oldest Ganesh pandals in the city, where Mumbaikars seek the Lord's blessings.
"We agree with the Supreme Court that this matter is complicated and this requires a serious and experienced judge. Court has said the district court will look into it. We agree with the Supreme Court," he said.
Several sculptures of gods and goddesses along with other structures related to Hindu motifs were seen in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, said advocate Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was appointed commissioner by a Varanasi court to survey the Gyanvapi-Gauri Shringar complex but was later removed for leaking the information.
The prime minister will be part of the launch of several development initiatives on his birthday.
The Muslims side said that they have received the letter and it will be deliberated upon in a meeting.
The petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had also challenged a Varanasi court order of April 8, 2021 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
One of the main litigants from the Hindu side Jitendra Singh Visen has announced that he and his family are withdrawing from all cases related to the Gynavapi issue due to alleged 'harassment'.
"It is heartening to see us, common people, being acknowledged. 'Achha lag raha hai'," Ram Chand Kumar, a mason who hails from Bihar and has been working on the site for the last 5-6 months, hailed the prime minister's gesture.
A Varanasi court on Thursday reserved till October 21 its order on a plea seeking inclusion of the Gyanvapi mosque's 'wazookhana' in the ongoing Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the mosque complex.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Gyanvapi panel plea it inadvertently disposed of on July 24 while staying an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey on the mosque premises to determine if it was built upon a temple.
On his arrival in Varanasi earlier on Monday, the prime minister offered prayers at Kaal Bhairav Temple.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) began working on a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi on Friday to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
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