As Ayodhya gears up for the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple next month, a set of imposing sun-themed pillars -- 'Surya Stambhs' -- are being installed along a prominent road of the temple town.
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.
Five organisers of the event have been arrested while the area sub-inspector of police and a district official suspended in connection with the incident, police said. The annual chariot festival of Lord Siddalingeshwara temple in Ravoor village in Chittapur taluk was organised on Thursday morning for about 15-20 minutes despite the management agreeing not to go ahead with it in view of the lockdown, a police official said.
Efficient land use, minimum congestion, a focus on dharamshalas (inns) and homestays, upgrading the infrastructure while retaining the historical and cultural character of the city are some of the highlights of the plan prepared by Kukreja, the managing principal of CP Kukreja Architects.
Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
How can a film that has a character declare that secularism is an illness be taken seriously, asks Deepa Gahlot.
"Interim orders wherever granted shall continue. Re-list in first half of April, 2024," the bench said in its order and directed the parties to complete the pleadings by then.
Though the 2000 year-old shrine remains closed in line with the national lockdown, all rituals are being conducted uninterruptedly and flawlessly by the priests
The court said the parties shall give an affidavit to keep the report with them and not make it public after getting the report.
Roads are being expanded, bridges are being built, hotels are springing up, and the crowds are pouring in. Bringing with them promise of unforeseen economic boom. Ayodhya, it seems, has opened up its heart, Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com discovers on his first day in the city.
Describing the unrest among party members as just the "tip of the iceberg," the report shed light on the underlying discontent within the BJP.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
A peek into the life of a public-sector banker who did well professionally, but paid a price for it, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A leopard strayed into a village in north Delhi's Wazirabad early on Monday, creating panic in the area and injuring eight residents before being tranquillised by forest department officials after an over five-hour-long rescue operation.
The rulers of the day need to be sensitive and involved in managing the identities of sacred spaces and the ongoing dialogues about the past in diverse societies, suggests Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd).
Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple, one of Buddhism's holiest shrines, plans to provide a peaceful environment for meditation to 4,000 visiting troops of the Royal British Army, who will start arriving in the second week of January 2013.
Nobel laureate Prof Mohammad Yunus, the designated head of Bangladesh's interim government, on Wednesday fervently appealed everybody 'to stay calm' and 'refrain from all kinds of violence' as the country witnessed a major reshuffle in the security establishment after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Dhubri is the worst-hit district, followed by Cachar and Darrang.
According to custom, only believers of Hinduism are permitted entry at the temple, a major pilgrim centre and tourist attraction in the southern part of the country.
Restriction on entry of women in any temple is "unfair" and managements in the temples doing so should change their mentality, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said on Sunday, against the backdrop of some cases highlighted through recent agitations in Maharashtra.
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was elected president and Champat Rai general secretary of the Ram Temple trust at its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The ASI is carrying out a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, next to Kashi Vishwanath temple here, to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
On August 5, Das shared the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Sreejesh and Aneeshya have two children -- son Sreeansh and daughter Anusree.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
The court said the modalities of the survey will be discussed at the next hearing on December 18.
With the spate of businesses turning their attention to Ayodhya, land rates have shot up, in some pockets by as much as 10 times. Whether one walks into a hotel lobby or sits down for a meal, land deals are being discussed at every other table -- one on one or among groups.
The apex court rejected an appeal challenging a July 10 decision of the Allahabad high court which had also dismissed the plea finding no error or illegality in the order of a Mathura civil judge who had decided to first hear the issue of maintainability of the suit as raised by management committee of the mosque.
The government had issued standard operating procedures for devotees and officials managing places of worship to ensure strict implement of coronavirus-related protocols and curb spread of the infection.
'It was quite a beautiful experience,' says Chef director Raja Krishna Menon.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
With the backdrop of the famous wheel from the Konark Sun temple in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi welcomed G20 leaders at the Bharat Mandapam, venue of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
Was Ram Rahim's release on parole for the 10th time since his conviction in 2017 timed to coincide with the Haryana assembly elections? It does seem so when one considers he has been released mostly when there was an election in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Listing the times that Ram Rahim has been out on parole.
After the incident took place on Sunday evening, the body of a man was found about 200 metres from the clash site in Kidana village, and the police are trying to ascertain if he was killed as part of that violence, Kutch (East) Superintendent of Police Mayur Patil said.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Some people in the gathering were also seen brandishing swords and wearing t-shirts and carrying banners with pictures of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Assam's flood situation remained critical on Tuesday with over 6.71 lakh people affected in 20 districts in the second wave of flooding this year, as the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 stranded fishermen from the severely-hit Dibrugarh district, an official said.
