More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday defended its directive requiring eateries along the kanwar yatra route to display the names of their owners and staff, saying the idea was to bring in transparency, avoid 'potential confusion' and ensure a peaceful yatra.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
India stressed that it is even more extraordinary for a country with a history of rigged elections to talk about political choices, that too in a democracy.
Sharing his experience on Instagram, Maharaj posted a photo from the temple with the caption 'Jai Shree Raam. Blessings to everyone.'
Take our quiz to test your knowledge about the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand.
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba and pray at the Grand mosque during the annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, ahead of Eid al-Adha which marks the end of Haj.
Sixty-year-old Nirmala Tripathi, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, died of cardiac arrest at the 3,880 metre high cave shrine after paying obeisance to the naturally formed ice-shivlingam on Thursday night, the officials said.
The actor and his mother was spotted at the Mumbai airport on November 1.
India's tennis star, who is pregnant with her first child, is visiting the Gulf nation with her family including her father Imran, mother Nasima and sister Anam.
The first batch of pilgrims reached Kashmir on Friday for the annual Amarnath Yatra, beginning Saturday, with J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagging off 4,603 yatris in the morning from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu under a tight security cover.
'The airport's name 'Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham' pays homage to Maharishi Valmiki, the sage attributed to composing the epic Ramayana, adding a cultural touch to the airport's identity.'
The yatra is going through the old route as the new route has not yet been opened.
'A first-time politician can only get such opportunities in AAP. Had I been in some other party, I wouldn't even have got a ticket to contest polls'
His cinema of compassion inspired me, gave me tools to develop empathy for others. But it also made me understand that serious, socially committed cinema with deeply engaging narratives and great performances is an art form to admire, appreciate and explore. Aseem Chhabra remembers Shyam Benegal, who passed into the ages on Monday evening.
The accusation comes a day after the President's secretariat forwarded the assertions of the Opposition BJP that Delhi was facing a constitutional crisis to the ministry of home affairs for "proper attention".
Devotees have begun their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha temple in Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
Having ended a bitter feud with elder brother Mukesh over control of the Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1000 billion) Reliance empire, Anil Ambani, has embarked on a pilgrimage.
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.
To me he always symbolised the sincere, confident, face of a Bharat whose rise is unstoppable. Ratan Tata was a Rishi who was unquestioningly trusted by people who never saw him and never met him, asserts Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
From the time he first rose to prominence during the movement against the then UPA government, Arvind Kejriwal has regularly grabbed headlines for his surprise moves and decisions. Here are 10 such instances.
A special quiz to mark the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Geelani cleared for Haj pilgrimage: J&K govt
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented gifts from Sri Ranganath Swamy temple in Tiruchirapalli to the newly constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Delegations of Kashmiri Pandit organisations on Friday met Union Minister Jitendra Singh seeking the Centre's intervention in allowing a pilgrimage to Kounsarnag Lak in South Kashmir, a day after locals had protested against the event.
Initiative is being led by Samyukta Nair, the grand daughter of 90-year-old founder of the Hotel Leelaventure C P Krishnan Nair.
Asserting that Article 370 is a thing of the past, Shah stated that no one can bring it back.
The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
Cloth merchant Rajendra Saini, 42, his wife Mamta, 40, their relative Pooja Saini, 30, and her two-year-old son Titu are among the nine killed after terrorists opened fire at a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu's Reasi district on Sunday evening.
With Julia Roberts' latest movie Eat, Pray, Love -- much of which has been filmed in India -- having released on August 13, we take a look at the best places across the country to do just that!
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits had, during an interaction with Raza in New Delhi, demanded that they be allowed to visit the Shardapeeth once a year. Raza had assured them he would facilitate their visit to the temple.
Twelve people, including three of a family, were killed and six injured in heavy overnight rains that triggered flooding and house collapse as several rivers swelled in Uttarakhand, officials said on Thursday.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera called the order "state-sponsored bigotry".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should go on a pilgrimage if he was helpless in checking corruption, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday.
One of the world's oldest seats of learning, the ruins of Nalanda University are a true wonder!
'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.'
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
The MeT department forecast very heavy rains over the next 48 hours in the mountainous areas of the state especially the disaster-prone Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts where torrential rains may trigger flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides asking people as well as authorities to be alert.
India signed the Kartarpur corridor agreement with Pakistan on October 24, 2019. Under the pact, Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round-the-year visa-free travel through the Kartarpur corridor to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, one of the most revered shrines of Sikhs, in Pakistan.
