Huge crowds throng Badrinath as shrine throws open its portals to pilgrims
Large crowds of devotees began streaming to the temple located in the snow-capped mountains of Chamoli district. The queues were as long as several kms and VIP preference created chaos at the entrance. There have been light rains in the past few days leading to minor landslides and road blocks on the way from Rishikesh.
BADRINATH, May 12: The portals of Badrinath shrine, one of the Char Dhams in
Uttarakhand, was thrown open to the pilgrims on Sunday morning amidst rituals
and Vedic chants after a six-month winter break. The other three shrines - Yamunotri,
Gangotri and Kedarnath - had opened on May 10.
Large crowds of devotees began streaming to the temple located in the snow-capped
mountains of Chamoli district dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The queues were as long
as several kms. VIP preference created chaos at the entrance.
There have been light rains in the past few days leading to minor landslides
on the way from Rishikesh. There were traffic blocks at Karnaprayag and Joshimath.
Badrinath, unlike the other three dhams, is easily accessible by road, except
for the steep terrain from Joshimath to Badrinath (50 km) taking about two hours.
Buses and cars go up to the temple premises. The distance by road from Haridwar
to Badrinath is 320 km (Haridwar to Rishikesh 30 km and Rishikesh to Badrinath
290 km). The aerial distance from Haridwar to Badrinath is 150 km. Helicopter
is very costly (takes one hour). The cheapest transport is State Roadways. It
takes more than 12 hours by road from Haridwar to Badrinath. Haridwar is one
of the holiest places of the Hindus, situated on the foothills of the Himalayas,
also in the State of Uttarakhand. Here the mighty Ganga hits the plains.
The pilgrimage for Char Dham commences around late April or early May and goes
on till November till the onset of winter.
At Yamunotri there was massive rush of devotees in the past two days and the
pilgrims have to wait for long hours in the serpentine route through the hills
with not enough regulations in place. The police have warned the yatris against
rushing to the top.
On Sunday, the police tweeted, "Today, a sufficient number of devotees have
reached Shri Yamunotri Dham as per its capacity. Now, sending more devotees
is risky." The pilgrims are told to check the situation at the shrine before
attempting to climb.
"The Char Dham Yatra commenced in Uttarakhand on May 10. For the last two days,
the three Dhams - Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - have been bustling. On
the first day, a record number of more than 29 thousand pilgrims from India
and abroad visited Kedarnath Dham," official sources said.
Four pilgrims have died since the opening of the dhams mainly due to heart-related
problems at high-latitudes. On Sunday, 75-year-old Laxmi Devi from Gujarat died
at Badrinath while Sampatti Bai, 62, from Madhya Pradesh, died in Yamunotri on
Saturday. Vimla Devi (69) from UP and Ramgopal (71) from MP were the other two
who lost their life in similar circumstances.
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Marking a decisive stage in the ongoing tussle between Governors and the Governments in some States, the Governor of Bengal has thrown down the gauntlet to the State police, asking the Raj Bhavan staff to refuse any enquiry from the cops in the sexual harassment case filed by a woman employee against him.
COMMENT: In many a case complaints can be frivolous, made under certain circumstances. So it is more in the interest of the accused that there is an investigation to clear his name. Denial may only mean acceptance of the guilt. Besides, quoting Constitutional immunity in sexual harassment cases is nothing short of a vulgarity of the feudal landlord. Nobody is above the law.
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It was only by 2012, after 50 years of the boson discovery, that scientists at CERN could make the big announcement that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider.
Higgs instantly broke into tears, tears of profound satisfaction, in the lecture hall where the announcement was made.
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OPINION: Made to happen as it does just weeks ahead of the general elections, the arrest may signal, if not the cause of, far-reaching consequences in the course of Indian politics. The Opposition charges that the ruling party at the Centre has unleashed the police to catch a leader every other day for corruption allegedly indulged in in the present or the remote past in order to incapacitate any concerted opposition to the ruling dispensation.
The “My way or the highway" man, Trump has predicted 'apocalypse' for Americans if he is not elected the President in the upcoming election. He sounds “extremism, affection for violence." As always, he is also seeing what others don't, and repetitively using words like "(2020) election was stolen"! And that's a symptom! Delivering a no-holds-barred speech at a rally in Ohio, he also predicted the US won't see another election if he did not win the November battle against the incumbent President. With his savage push against the God-fearing Catholic, and the heap of criminal cases pending in the courts, the unpredictable Trump's nomination exposes a season of drought of leadership of calibre in the United States.
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The manager has defended himself saying that dry ice got mixed with mouth freshener by the negligence of the staff...After taking the mouth freshener the customers felt a burning sensation and started vomiting blood. Five of them were hospitalised. Two are in critical condition.
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TAILPIECE: Almost every other day we hear of shootings in one place or other in the country. India will very soon replace the US as the world's No 1 in the incidence of mass shooting. It will eclipse terrorism as a source of concern. Who can help? At least, has it occurred to anyone's mind?
'This Moment' of Shakti fusion won the Best Global Music Album at the Grammys. Zakir Hussain has won two other awards too. In a great victory for Indians, five of them have won the Grammys this time. In other sections, Taylor Swift got her fourth Album of the Year award and Miley Cyrus got an award for the first time.
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