Tirumala-Tirupati, the most popular, and wealthiest, temple in India was cut off on Thursday following heavy rains that flooded the main shrine at Tirumala and led to the shutdown of the ghat roads that lead to it.
The restrictions would come into force from Friday, Deputy Chief Minister for Medical and Health A K K Srinivas (Nani) said briefing reporters after a high-level meeting on COVID-19, chaired by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The daily rituals in all these temples will, however, be performed by the priests. Only the devotees will not be allowed, he said.
The women devotees were surrounded by a large number of protesters after they crossed the base camp to begin the trek towards the hill shrine.
A controversy has erupted over the burial place of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon in Mumbai, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claiming the grave was 'beautified' and attempts made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
Vinod Panicker, a known Poorakali-Marathukali artist for the last 37 years, alleged that the management of some local temples informed him that he could not perform the traditional artform as he lives in the same house where his non-Hindu daughter-in-law lives.
It is the first annual pilgrimage season at the hill temple after the coronavirus outbreak and authorities have decided to restrict the number of devotees to 1,000 per day and to 2,000 on weekends.
"Is it possible for women to trek kilometers through the forest path and stand amongst the packed crowd?"
Shivling claim is an attempt to create communal disharmony, The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said.
There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in these clashes.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi said the flag unfurled at the temple is not just symbol of our spirituality, but shows that our faith remains strong despite passage of centuries, and added that the centres of faith and spiritual glory of India are now being re-established.
The Kerala government has made it clear that it would not provide security to any woman of menstruating age visiting the shrine, as per Devaswom Board Minister K Surendran.
The national award-winning actor had organised a mass Vishu kaineettam campaign earlier this week in Thrissur, where he unsuccessfully contested in the last assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
VIP entry must be restricted only to themselves and their family members, but not the relatives, Justice S M Subramaniam said.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, blamed by India for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai carnage, on Tuesday night said New Delhi has never presented any evidence to back up its assertions that his group was involved in several terrorist attacks.
Shut Up Sona is about one woman refusing to be silenced, notes Deepa Gahlot.
Justice Padia stayed the Varanasi civil court order, ruling that the subordinate court passed its order ignoring the fact that the high court had reserved its verdict on the plea challenging the maintainability of the suit which had been filed earlier in the lower court for the survey.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections drawing close, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi will begin a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh from Ayodhya starting September 7, his party said on Friday.
Delhi Legislative Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said that the tunnel connects the legislative assembly to Red Fort and was used by the Britons to avoid reprisal while moving freedom fighters.
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RCP Singh alleged that Kumar "had made up his mind to betray the mandate of 2020 when people had voted the NDA back to power."
Modi was on his first visit to Ayodhya after he laid the foundation stone of a Ram temple at the once disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site on August 5, 2020.
Accompanied by police personnel, the members of Chennai-based women empowerment outfit 'Manithi' could barely move 100 metres through the traditional forest path towards the temple when hundreds of devotees rushed down to the valley to chase them away.
Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Kashmir were a low-key affair on Thursday as the faithful marked the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan by offering the thanksgiving prayers in small congregations at local mosques by observing social distancing in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Resumption of 'Char Dham yatra' after a gap of two Covid-marred years is a welcome development for thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on it, but the death of 78 pilgrims on way to the Himalayan temples in less than a month is causing concern.
The prime minister, who is on a two-day visit to the state, inaugurated, laid the foundation stone of and dedicated to the nation, railway and metro projects in the state worth Rs 4,500 crore.
Bindu and Kanakadurga, who broke centuries-old tradition by entering the holy shrine, said there were no objections from the devotees and called those who were protesting riot-mongers.
'Movie-goers will thrive if you give them what they want.'
Braving threats from conservatives and the tough terrains of the hillock, K B Valsala Kumari, then collector of Pathanamthitta district, visited the temple complex at least four times during 1994-95.
CJI Lalit concurred with the minority view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat who held the EWS quota as "unconstitutional" for excluding poor among SCs, STs and OBCs.
The court asked the UP govt to get examined the disputed premises by a five-member team of the ASI at its expense.
While beefing up security in all communally sensitive towns, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday sounded a 'red alert' across the state in the wake of the 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya.
'Definitely, crowd management will be a challenge, but we will ensure we have enough forces at hand to take care of any situation.'
The first batch of police personnel had taken charge of the security on Saturday.
The famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, opened for the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season, is all set to receive more pilgrims now with the Kerala government deciding to allow more devotees for darshan by adhering to Covid-19 protocols.
The death toll in the Uttarkashi bus accident rose to 26 with the recovery of one more body after which the search and rescue operation was concluded, officials said on Monday.
The green panel ordered removal of iron grills in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'Shiva Linga' so that devotees could get a better view of it and said there should be no noise pollution near the sacred structure.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices L N Rao and Dinesh Maheshwari said it was only going into the aspect of security of the two women and would not like to entertain any other prayer made in the petition.
In the brief history of the hill state of Uttarakhand, there has not been a single instance where a chief minister has lost a by-election, reports Shishir Prashant.
The woman showed her Aadhaar card to them to prove that she did not belong to the 'traditionally barred' age group of 10-50 years.
Addressing a health card distribution ceremony in Peshawar, Chief Minister Khan said the government has issued orders to rebuild the temple. The attack on the temple in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Karak district on Wednesday drew strong condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community leaders.
