The much-awaited annual event of Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, is slated to be even bigger and better in 2019. Although it is usually spread over a 20 km radius, the Kumbh Mela -- set to begin on January 15 and continue till March 4 -- will be sprawled across 45 km this year. Authorities are expecting approximately 100 million visitors to come for a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati Rivers. Ahead of the festival, preparations are under full swing to construct 22 temporary pontoon bridges.
Behind sprinter Dutee Chand's rise is a hidden journey filled with pain and hardship.
As their parties are locked in a fierce battle for Bengal, Tathagata and Saugata Roy, siblings who belong to the BJP and the TMC respectively, answer the same questions put to them about the assembly election.
The all-embracing spirit of Maha Kumbh has caught on with the armed forces which have thrown open up parts of a fort built by Mughal Emperor Akbar at the holy Sangam, giving pilgrims and tourists access to the historic Patalpuri Temple and the Saraswati Koop.
Nitish Kumar has failed to curb communal forces and hoodlums across communities. And that is ominous for Bihar's present and future, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
Roy, on his part, said the decision to name him in the first information report was 'politically motivated'.
Jayendra Saraswati, the shankaracharya of Kanchi, discusses the temple entry for women controversy, the Ram Janmabhoomi temple issue and gurus getting into business with Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy and A Ganesh Nadar in his first interview since being acquitted recently by a court.
'The pandemic ends only when 70 per cent of the world is vaccinated with two doses.'
'With his going, my relationship with the Kapoor family has ended.'
The Shankaracharya said the sadhus will begin their march to Ayodhya from Allahabad after Basant Panchami, which falls on February 10.
School dropout Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, famously known as 'MDH Dadaji' for repeated appearance in his spice brand's television ads, started his spices business journey in a nondescript shack in Delhi's Karol Bagh after selling his tonga, and went on, at the age of 94, to becoming the highest-paid CEO in the country's FMCG sector.
'The source of our music, the very notes of music itself have fallen silent.'
Schools across Maharashtra resumed physical sessions for classes 5 to 12 on Monday after being shut for over a year-and-a-half in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with students being welcomed back on campuses with flowers, balloons, sanitisers and social distancing protocols.
Nanaji joined the RSS in 1928 as a 12-year-old and later remained a member of Bhartiya Jan Sangh.
Leading historian Irfan Habib said the country's academic community is shocked at the manner in which the Modi government is "trampling upon" academic institutions.
Jayendra Saraswati returned to the Kacnhi Mutt for the first time this year.
Make sure that these places feature in your 2019 travel bucket list.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister dismissed apprehensions that the arrest would disrupt daily prayers at the mutt.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, whose killing last year had triggered riots, had rejected the police's request for deployment of security personnel within the campus of Jalespeta ashram on the grounds that it would not suit its atmosphere.
Dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm x 142 mm, making it smaller than the current Rs 100 notes.
'No other country other than India can do it on this scale.'
'The present government swears by Hinduism. But we lost three of our sants during earlier BJP regimes.'
Terming Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as 'anti-Hindu', the VHP today said it would launch a statewide campign to generate awareness on the necessity to protect Hindu religion.
The members include senior lawyer K Parasaran, Jagatguru Shankracharya, Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj from Allahabad, Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj, Pejawar Math in Udupi, Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj from Haridwar, Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj from Pune and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra from Ayodhya.
The central committee of the banned Communist Party of India - Maoist had decided to eliminate Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati as he was opposing them in Kandhamal, according to the confessions of an arrested Maoist commander, who was allegedly involved in the killing in August last year.P Rama Rao alias Uday, arrested on April 20 from Raygada district, told interrogators that he was part of the 16-member Maoist team that gunned down Saraswati.
"Maoists were given money to train certain youth of a particular community to eliminate Saraswati," inspector general of police, crime branch, Arun Ray told PTI asserting the mastermind of the killings had been identified.
Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and eight others were on Friday acquitted of all charges, including attempt to murder, in the 2002 the auditor Radhakrishnan assault case.
'He will always live in the hearts of the millions of children who have studied in schools and colleges established by him and the faithful Hindus to whom he was a symbol of the invincible spirit of glorious Hindu Dharma,' says Tarun Vijay.
Top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda has claimed responsibility for the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four others, which lead to large scale flare-up in Orissa's Kandhamal district, according to two local television channels.
Four leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad were killed in a Naxal attack at Tumribandha in Kandhamal district of Orissa on Saturday night.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said that the state of Puducherry, where the trial was shifted from Tamil Nadu, can appoint the public prosecutor and the case will continue there. Jayendra Saraswati had challenged the appointment of a public prosecutor from Tamil Nadu for holding trial in the case, which was shifted to Puducherry on the direction of the apex court.
An agriculturist and social worker, the low-profile leader has been active in politics from his student days and served as state unit president of the Bhartiya Yuva Morcha in 1991 and as vice-president at the national level.
Eight persons, including a Maoist leader, were sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment on Thursday by a court in Kandhamal district for the murder of senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others in 2008 that triggered communal violence leaving 37 dead.
Dutee told reporters, alleging that some media organisations were on 'overdrive' to harm her by intruding into her private life.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's spiritual guru Swami Dayanand Giri passed away late Wednesday night at his ashram in Sheeshamjhadi area of Rishikesh after a prolonged illness. He was 87.
Prakashanand Saraswati, 79, founder of the Barsana Dham Centre in north Hays County in Texas-- one of the biggest Hindu temples in the US -- was released on a US$ one million bail by District Judge Bill Henry in April.Saraswati was indicted on 20 counts of indecency between 1993 and 1996. He was arrested on April 24 at the Washington Dulles International Airport, after he arrived on a flight from Europe, where he had been receiving treatment.
After spending 40 years in the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Subrata Saha marches into the electoral battlefield as the BJP candidate from Rashbehari.
"After baby Saraswati @ Sherin Mathews' case, have requested minister for women and child development for a thorough investigation into the adoption process," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Friday.
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