Somewhere between the darshan queue and the fugadi dancing, between ancient stone pillars and the riverfront, my nine-year-daughter found her own understanding of pilgrimage, says Hemantkumar Shivsharan.
'That journey across India has changed me forever.'
Three masked men robbed a State Bank of India branch in Vijayapura, Karnataka, making off with over Rs 20 crore in cash and gold ornaments after tying up the staff. Police are investigating.
The incident took place around 4:15am near Bhigwan on the highway when the car the victims were travelling in halted after the driver wanted to answer nature's call, the official said.
Heavy rains lashed several parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, on Monday, resulting in one death and the rescue of 48 people from inundated areas. The state received widespread rainfall, with Pune, Satara, Solapur, Raigad, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) experiencing significant precipitation. Mumbai recorded 135.4 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, leading to waterlogging and power outages in some areas. The India Meteorological Department has predicted more rain in Mumbai over the next 24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds.
"Do you want to see real bunnies?" Parisa gasped in surprise. "Real ones?! Yes please!" So off they went, giggling, to the pet shelter behind one of the homes.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for his "blood would flow in rivers" remark and called former cricketer Shahid Afridi a "joker" for his comment on the Pahalgam terror attack. Owaisi also supported India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty and called for Pakistan to be placed on the FATF grey list. He also advocated for cyber attacks against Pakistan.
MF Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra), a 13-panel masterpiece from the 1950s, has been sold at a Christie's auction in New York for USD 13.8 million, setting a new record for the most expensive work of modern Indian art. The sale nearly doubles the previous record held by Amrita Sher-Gil's "The Story Teller." "Gram Yatra," meaning "village pilgrimage," is considered a cornerstone of Husain's oeuvre, celebrating the diversity of independent India. The painting was acquired by a doctor in Delhi in 1954 and later bequeathed to Oslo University Hospital. The proceeds of the sale will support the training of future doctors at the institution.
In a setback to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, BJP candidate Samadhan Autade on Sunday won the by-election to Pandharpur-Mangalvedha Assembly seat in Solapur district by defeating his nearest NCP rival by a margin of over 3,700 votes
Pawar also said it is the moral responsibility of the major Opposition parties in Maharashtra to protect in the state assembly polls the interests of smaller allies, which were part of the coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Nationalist Congress Party is likely to field its senior leader and former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil from Pandharpur, as his constituency Akluj in western Maharashtra has been reserved for scheduled tribes following delimitation.
Lakhs of devotees congregated at the temple town of Pandharpur on Saturday to witness the maha puja of Lord Vitthal and Rukhmini on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi.
'In Independent India's politics you will not find any leader of a political party who has not contested elections or not held a powerful post.' 'It was only Balasaheb who never contested elections or held a post.' On the occasion of Balasaheb Thackeray's 99th birth anniversary, close aide Subhash Desai recalls vignettes about the Shiv Sena founder.
Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
'I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP. But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).' 'When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.'
Gadkari and Singh on Thursday came together to release a book on late Congress leader Ramkrishna More at Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune.
The incident occurred when devotees were scrambling to gain entry into Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Samadhi Mandir in Alandi town, 22 km from Pune city, during the ceremonial procession which is part of the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage to Pandharpur.
'When you take up a religion or religious issue in an election, it creates a different type of environment and it is not a good thing'
The incident took place at Lavanga village in Jat tehsil when the four men hailing from Uttar Pradesh were heading towards the temple town of Pandharpur from Bijapur in Karnataka in a car.
He hailed from Pandharpur in Solapur district.
The Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday performed the 'mahapooja' of Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi.
Reacting to the statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said "insulting the Sanatan Dharma again and again" has become the habit of the Samajwadi Party and its leaders.
Over 20,000 people were evacuated to safer places in these three districts. State capital Mumbai too witnessed water-logging in many areas after overnight rains on Thursday.
In one of these clips or voice notes, he is heard stating that his company could not come out of the financial crisis it was facing because of the procedure adopted by the financial services firm.
It evoked strong reactions from opposition Congress as well as Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
With uncertainty looming over the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's stability in the wake of Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde camping in Gujarat with some party MLAs, the stand of 29 legislators from smaller parties and Independents is likely to be crucial.
At an event at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai, Modi first flagged off the the CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express and later another semi high-speed train linking the financial capital to Sainagar Shirdi temple town in Ahmednagar district.
Shinde dismissed his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray's call for mid-term elections.
The 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly constitutes the electoral college Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled on June 10, and a candidate needs 42 votes to win a seat.
This letter comes after a number of prominent celebrities, Tendulkar and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, tweeted in support of the Centre on the microblogging platform Twitter.
Defying age and critics Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray made a public appearance on Wednesday to flag off a caravan that will carry son Uddhav's recently published photo book Pahava Vitthal from Mumbai to Pandharpur.
The chief minister said that although places of religious worship had to be shut during the pandemic, god was taking care of all devotees in the form of doctors, nurses and other health staff.
Thackeray said losses have been reported from coastal Konkan and some other regions. He said and orders have been issued to carry out spot inspections to assess the damages caused by the cyclone.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said Maharashtra was facing a "historic economic crisis" and the state government has no option but to take a loan to help the flood-affected people in the state.
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
On Sunday, a team comprising deputy commissioner of police Hemraj Singh Rajput, assistant commissioner of police Nitin Jadhav and two inspectors, reached Fadnavis's bungalow 'Sagar' around noon.
'Aurangzeb, who had destroyed the Hindu temples of Mathura and Kashi and many others in the north, was a very different ruler when he came to Maharashtra.' 'He did not touch a single temple in Maharashtra.' 'It was possibly the greatest triumph of Shivaji's statesmanship,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), the well known military historian.
With focus on 'Mission 150' for the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expressed confidence that the traditional 'puja' at Pandharpur next year would be performed by a chief minister from the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.
Thackeray said the BJP's perception of being a "world winner" had been shattered with the results of the just-held state assembly polls.
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