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Pune: In the lanes of the peth areas, residents shopped for puja essentials, picked up flowers, diyas and incense sticks for Laxmi Pujan. The scent of ghee, marigold and sandalwood hung in the air as families returned home to begin preparations.With ambiguity over Laxmi Pujan date, some residents chose to celebrateon Monday, while some will perform the puja on Tuesday.In many neighbourhoods, families gathered for the evening puja, shared festive meals, and stepped out to exchange sweets with neighbours.Bursts of firecrackers punctuated the night, although many homes kept the focus on light, prayer, and family togetherness.Some residents chose to perform Laxmi Pujan on Monday and spend Tuesday visiting friends and family, making temple rounds, and soaking in the festive spirit, doubling the joy and the light."This year, the timing of Laxmi Pujan has led to some families celebrating on Oct 20, while others celebrate on Oct 21. The Amavasya Tithi extends past midnight, spilling into Tuesday. The day people choose for the puja depends on family tradition and personal convenience," said Shashikala Kale, a resident of Undri.Inside homes, preparations were meticulous and symbolic.Families cleaned every corner and adorned their altars with fresh flowers.Idols of Goddess Laxmi were placed on clean decorative cloths, and lamps and flowers were arranged with care.Supriya Gaikwad, a resident of Sadashiv Peth, said, "We start by cleaning the puja area from top to bottom, sweeping and dusting every corner. Then, we decorate it with fresh flowers, mango leaves, and a rangoli at the entrance to welcome the Goddess. A silver or copper kalash filled with water, coins, and rice is placed on a clean cloth alongside the idol of Goddess Laxmi. Earthen lamps are arranged around the altar, lit in the evening at the mahurat, and kept burning through the night to signify the deity's presence. We also prepare small offerings of sweets, fruits, and betel leaves. The door is left open to invite the Goddess in, and many families avoid sweeping that day to ensure prosperity remains inside. Every detail is done with devotion, blending tradition and symbolism."Beyond decorating their own homes, many residents extend the festive spirit to shared spaces, coming together to create rangolis and celebrate as a community."Every year before Laxmi Pujan, the neighbours come together in the common area to draw a big rangoli. We exchange design ideas and divide the work so everyone can contribute. It is a fun, lively activity where neighbours laugh, share stories and sweets, and celebrate the festival together. Children enjoy drawing rangoli more than bursting crackers," said Meera Patil, a resident of Katraj.Temples across the city drew steady crowds, with devotees also visiting smaller neighbourhood shrines. The Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple and Shri Mahalaxmi Mandir near Sarasbaug are expected to see long queues of devotees throughout the Diwali week."Every year, my family visits the Mahalaxmi Temple and the Dagdusheth Temple on Diwali morning to seek blessings and begin the festival on an auspicious note. The collective energy at the temple, with the chanting of prayers and offering of flowers, makes it feel special," said Chetan Pilgaonkar, a resident of Kothrud.
Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 6 (PTI) Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday appealed to the people of Odisha for protection of Rushikulya river. The government planned to construct a dam in the river Pipalapnaka under Sorada block in the district. While participating in the Save Rushikulya river movement in Ganjam district, she said, "Rivers may be small or big, but they are our mother. We have to protect the rivers from attacks." She attended a meeting were organised by the Rushikulya Banchao Kriyaanusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading the agitation a ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Axiom-4 crew members, including Shubhanshu Shukla, were welcomed with hugs and drinks as they stepped into the International Space Station on Thursday. The newly launched spacecraft -- the fifth in the Dragon series and named Grace -- successfully completed a soft docking with the International Space Station at 4.01pm while orbiting above the North Atlantic Ocean."At 6:31 am EDT (4:01 IST) on Thursday, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station for the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4," the National Aeronautics ...Read More >
Purba Medinipur (West Bengal) [India], June 27 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday participated in the first-ever Rath Yatra of the newly inaugurated Jagannath Temple in Digha. CM Mamata Banerjee performed the sacred ritual of sweeping the chariots, in which the chariot's platform is swept gently using a broom. The CM also performed the Aarti as the first-ever Rath Yatra at the Lord Jagannath temple in Digha began. Also Read | Lohardaga Shocker: Woman Strangulated, Teen Grandson Hacked to Death in Sleep in Jharkhand, Family Feud Suspected. The Rs 250 crore temple in ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Mysuru Dasara is set to run for 11 days this year -- a rare extension driven by celestial alignment and cultural planning -- with the inaugural ceremony on Sept 22 and the grand Jamboo Savari taking place on Oct 2, coinciding with Vijayadashami and Gandhi Jayanti.Chairing a high-level meeting at Vidhana Soudha Friday, chief minister Siddaramaiah said, "Mysuru Dasara in 2025 will be celebrated for 11 days, due to a unique astronomical occurrence -- the Panchami tithi (fifth lunar day) will appear on two consecutive days, Sept 26 and 27, a rare alignment that hasn't occurred in nearly ...Read More >
KURNOOL: The Srisailam temple authorities have strongly refuted the recent allegation that a cockroach was found in a laddu prasadam, calling it a deliberate attempt to malign the temple's reputation. The controversy erupted on Sunday after K Saras Chandra, a devotee from Kavali in Nellore district, claimed he discovered a cockroach in a laddu purchased from the temple's official counter and lodged a formal complaint. Temple Executive Officer M Srinivasa Rao responded swiftly, stating that all prasadams are prepared under ISO 22000-certified hygiene protocols. "From boondi frying in ghee to ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: BJP leader Amit Malviya on Tuesday accused Rahul Gandhi of being "so arrogant that he did not even greet the President" during the 75th Constitution Day event held in Parliament. This comes as the grand old party has often voiced its criticism against the saffron party for not inviting President Droupadi Murmu at the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building last year and Ram Temple consecration this year. "Rahul Gandhi is so arrogant that he did not even greet the President. Just because she comes from the tribal community, is a woman and Rahul Gandhi is the prince of ...Read More >
Digha: Hoteliers in West Bengal's Digha have experienced a 20 per cent surge in occupancy as travellers in large numbers are thronging the seaside town since the opening of the Jagannath temple in April, an official said Friday. Around 90 per cent of the boarders are coming for a two-day stay in hotels to visit the town and offer puja to Lord Jagannath in the new temple, Digha Hoteliers Association joint secretary Bipradas Chatterjee told PTI. "Since the opening of the Jagannath temple in April this year, the room occupancy in all hotels has increased by 20 per cent on average. Most of the v ...Read More >
Digha, Jun 27 (PTI) Hoteliers in West Bengal's Digha have experienced a 20 per cent surge in occupancy as travellers in large numbers are thronging the seaside town since the opening of the Jagannath temple in April, an official said on Friday. Around 90 per cent of the boarders are coming for a two-day stay in hotels to visit the town and offer puja to Lord Jagannath in the new temple, Digha Hoteliers Association joint secretary Bipradas Chatterjee told PTI. "Since the opening of the Jagannath temple in April this year, the room occupancy in all hotels has increased by 20 per cent on averag ...Read More >
Bengaluru Power Cuts: Citizens of Bengaluru brace yourself for long hours of power outages from June 29 and June 30. More than 100 areas will be impacted as BESCOM undertakes its quarterly maintenance work in various of its division. Bengaluru Power Outages June 29: According to the update by BESCOM on its X handler, there will be power outages in Kittaganahalli, Palasandra, Saptagiri, Maruthinagar, Sankapur, Raghavendra Nagar, Goolarivee, Baddihalli, Kesaramadu, C.M Badawan, Kalalli and SKS village on June 29 from 10 am to 5 pm. BESCOM's executive engineer has appealed to consumers to coop ...Read More >
New Delhi, December 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government is committed to providing every facility to the devotees visiting Prayagraj for Maha Kumbh. Ahead of his visit to Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, PM Modi said that he will take stock of the works related to the Maha Kumbh and also inaugurate and launch multiple development projects. PM Modi Prayagraj Visit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Arrive in Prayagraj Today To Launch Development Projects Worth Around INR 5,500 Crore. "Along with making the Maha Kumbh of faith divine and grand, we are committed to providi ...Read More >
New Delhi: Three Indian citizens vanished mysteriously in Tehran. Darkness closed in as hope seemed lost. A ruthless Pakistani gang with potential links to ISI snatched them away, casting a shadow of fear. But relentless Indian diplomats refused to back down. Against all odds, a daring rescue mission ignited. Now, the captives are free, and a chilling game of espionage comes to light. The Punjab-based trio - Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur, Jaspal Singh from SBS Nagar and Hushnapreet Singh from Sangrur - had landed in Iran on May 1. Promised a clandestine route to Australia via Dubai and Tehra ...Read More >
Digha (West Bengal) [India], June 27 (ANI): The first-ever Rath Yatra at the Lord Jagannath temple in Digha is set to begin soon on a 1 km route on Friday. ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radharamn Das said the festival is inspired by the Puri Rath Yatra and added that West Bengal Chief Minister will join the event at 2 pm. Also Read | Shillong Teer Results Today, June 27 2025: Winning Numbers, Result Chart for Shillong Morning Teer, Shillong Night Teer, Khanapara Teer, Juwai Teer and Jowai Ladrymbai. Speaking to ANI, Radharamn Das said, "Digha Jagannath Yatra is inspired by Puri Rath Yatra. ...Read More >
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 28 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on his visit to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati on Saturday shared the development project aimed towards making the trip to the temple more accessible and time-efficient He said, 'A ropeway will be constructed from Kamakhya station to Kamakhya temple and another ropeway will be constructed from Sonaram field to Kamakhya temple. Work on both ropeways is going on. The process of floating a tender has already been done. A feasibility study for many other ropeways is going on.' The construction of both ropeways to ...Read More >
Srinagar- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said foreign countries were told clearly during the post-Operation Sindoor diplomatic outreach that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action. Speaking at a discussion at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Tharoor said Indian delegations which visited foreign countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor managed to convey that India acted with restraint and responsibility. "In other places, we actually were able to get some very high-placed people to say not only that they respected and supported India's right of self- ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], November 28 (ANI): India has expressed its concern over the escalating incidents of violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and desecration, and damage to their places of worship, and has also called on the interim government there to ensure the safety of minorities. In a response to question asked by RJD MP AD Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of External Affairs, Kirit Vardhan Singh in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, stated that the "primary responsibility" for the protection of life and liberty of all citizens of Bangladesh, including minorities, "rests with ...Read More >
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 28 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on his visit to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati on Saturday shared the development project aimed towards making the trip to the temple more accessible and time-efficient He said, "A ropeway will be constructed from Kamakhya station to Kamakhya temple and another ropeway will be constructed from Sonaram field to Kamakhya temple. Work on both ropeways is going on. The process of floating a tender has already been done. A feasibility study for many other ropeways is going on." The construction of both ropeways to ...Read More >
Digha: A day after Rath Yatra, the festive fervour continues in Digha as the seaside town is now gearing up to host Ulta Rath or the return journey of the deities from the 'Masir Bari' or the old Jagannath temple. On July 5 -- the Ulta Rath day -- hotels are hoping for fresh tourist influx. Though the deities are currently in Masir Bari, a large queue of devotees visited the newly-constructed Jagannath temple on Saturday. They offered prayers to the stone idol permanently installed there. It is the wooden idols of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra that have taken the chairot rides. Bipradash Cha ...Read More >
MADURAI: Likening the custodial murder of Ajith Kumar in Tiruppuvanam to an 'organised crime by police where the state kills its own citizens,' Madras high court lambasted the Tamil Nadu police and said the action against the perpetrators should be more stringent than in normal murder cases.A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice A D Maria Clete pointed to 44 external injuries on the person of Ajith Kumar and said no part of the body was spared by the delinquent cops. "Even an ordinary murderer would not have inflicted such kind of injuries," the bench said on Tuesday.The natur ...Read More >
Puri, Jul 4 (PTI) Thousands of devotees lined up in front of Shree Gundicha Temple here on Friday for 'Sandhya Darshan' on the auspicious occasion of 'Navami Tithi', the last day to offer obeisance to the sibling deities -- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath -- at their birthplace before 'Bahuda Yatra.' Bahuda Yatra, scheduled for Saturday, marks the return journey of the deities to their original abode after the nine-day annual sojourn that began with Rath Yatra on June 27. DGP YB Khurania and top officials of the state administration supervised the proceedings to ensure a smo ...Read More >
Puri (Odisha) [India], July 5 (ANI): The coastal town of Puri is immersed in devotion and cultural splendour as the grand 'Bahuda Yatra' unfolds as the ceremonial chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra leave the Shri Gundicha Temple and return to the Shri Jagannath Temple. The festival completes its last act with Bahuda Yatra, the "return journey," deeply spiritual and a cultural spectacle with people witnessing the return of Lord Jagannath's Nandighosha chariot, Lord Balabhadra's Taladhwaja chariot, and Goddess Subhadra's Darpadalan chariot. Also Read | Rajasthan ...Read More >
Puri, Jun 27 (PTI) The 'Pahandi' ritual in which Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath are being carried in a procession from the 12th-century temple to their respective chariots for the Rath Yatra started on Friday. Though the Pahandi ritual was earlier scheduled to begin at 9.30 am, it started one hour late and the ritual will continue for three hours. In the Pahandi the trinity - Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath - are being carried in a procession to their respective chariots parked in front of the Lion's Gate for journey to Shree Gundicha Temple, about 2.6 ki ...Read More >
Gurgaon: MCG additional commissioner Yash Jaluka directed bulk waste generators (BWG) across the city to ensure proper disposal of waste by private agencies who are assisting them. Giving these instructions in a meeting held on Friday, he said it is often observed that BWGs hand over their waste to private agencies, which only sort valuable items and dump the remaining waste on roads, drains, vacant land or public places. This, he said, not only affects cleanliness of the city but also poses a threat to public health."Under the Solid Waste Management Rules-2016, it is the legal and moral respo ...Read More >
New Delhi, June 29 (SocialNews.XYZ) India has witnessed a series of tragic religious stampedes in 2025, which raised significant concerns about crowd management and public safety at large religious gatherings. From Jagannath Yatra in Odisha to the Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh, and stampedes in Delhi and Goa, many have lost their lives and thousands have been injured, indicating a series of security and crowd management lapses at such crucial religious gatherings. The latest tragedy occurred on Sunday during the Jagannath Yatra in Puri, Odisha. As thousands of devotees gathered near the Gundic ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar seems to be seeking divine intervention to get his dream of becoming the Chief Minister fulfilled. Shivakumar on Friday conducted a special pooja at Chamundeshwari temple in Mysuru on the auspicious occasion of Ashadha Friday and sought the blessings of the Goddess. Coming out of the temple, Shivakumar said he firmly believed that prayers will always yield desired results even when efforts fail. "Efforts may fail but prayers will not. It is my firm belief," the senior Congress leader said. Shivakumar's statement assumes significance ...Read More >
Puri (Odisha) [India], June 27 (ANI): A large number of devotees gathered at the Jagannath temple in Puri as the grand annual Rath Yatra festival began on Friday morning. People from across the country arrived to witness the grand chariots of the three deities, Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra, and sister goddess Subhadra, at the Gundicha temple, where the deities reside for a week and then return to Jagannath temple. Speaking to ANI, Pooja Anand, a devotee from Mumbai, shared her emotions while witnessing the yatra for the first time. 'I have come from Mumbai. It is an out-of-thi ...Read More >
New Delhi: The razing of a Durga temple in Dhaka's Khiliket area has cast a long shadow over India-Bangladesh ties, reviving questions about the safety of religious minorities in post-Hasina Bangladesh. With reports attributing the demolition to pressure from radical Islamist groups, the incident on Thursday represents a potential inflection point in India's foreign policy approach toward its eastern neighbour. "We understand that extremists were clamouring for demolishing the Durga temple in Khilkhet, Dhaka," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a regular media ...Read More >
Tiruppur: A shocking case of alleged dowry harassment and suicide has emerged from Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district, where a 27-year-old woman died by suicide on Saturday, 29 June -- just 78 days after her wedding. Rithanya, daughter of Annadurai, a real estate businessman, was married on 11 April 2025 to Kavin Kumar (28), the grandson of a senior Congress leader in Tiruppur. The wedding was a grand celebration, with the bride's family gifting 300 sovereigns of gold and a Volvo SUV worth ₹70 lakh to the groom's side, bringing the total expenditure to over ₹2.5 crore. According to Rithanya's f ...Read More >
Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu), Jul 1 (PTI) The toll in a blast at a firecracker manufacturing factory in Sivakasi in the district on Tuesday rose to eight with three more workers succumbing. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, who condoled the accident, announced solatium to the kin of the deceased. The devastating fire gutted the unit and left many injured, police said. Smoke that billowed from the factory as the firecrackers burst, could be seen from a distance. Police and fire and rescue services personnel who reached the spot rushed the injured to the hospital. The fire was later brought ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday announced the provisional attachment of assets worth approximately ₹131.45 crore in Spain, including a luxury yacht and immovable properties, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These assets belong to Pavel Prozorov, a Spanish national and the alleged mastermind behind the unauthorised forex trading platform OctaFX. The attached assets comprise a commercial Italian-model luxury yacht cruising in the Western Mediterranean, a minijet boat, a luxury car, and two residential properties in Spain. The ED's probe was launched ...Read More >
The sacred coastal city of Puri is bustling with devotional energy as preparations intensify for the Bahuda Yatra 2025, the revered return journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, and Chakraraj Sudarshan from the Gundicha Temple to the Shree Jagannath Temple. After the completion of the important Hera Panchami ritual on Tuesday night, the focus shifted to the Dakshina Moda (southward turning) of the three grand Rath Yatra chariots. On Wednesday, July 2, the chariots of Devi Sub ...Read More >