Ayodhya Ram temple's main work to be completed by October, says temple trust
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai on Friday said finishing touches are currently being given to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, marking a crucial stage in its construction.
Talking to reporters, Rai confirmed that once this work is complete, all heavy machinery will be taken down.
He said the "main work of the temple will be completed by October".
Emphasising that public 'darshan' (viewing) should not be hindered, Rai highlighted the pending works crucial for the security of the temple complex.
They include the construction of the boundary wall, which has not yet begun. He noted that these tasks, along with the construction of the auditorium, restrooms and the Trust office within the complex "may take another year to be completed".
The construction of the Ram temple began after a historic Supreme Court judgment in 2019 on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. The Hindu litigants argued that the Babri mosque was constructed at the site of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram.
The consecration ceremony was held on January 22 last year.
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Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Ayodhya Ram temple's main work to be completed by October, says temple trust
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai on Friday said finishing touches are currently being given to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, marking a crucial stage in its construction. Talking to reporters, Rai confirmed that once this work is complete, all heavy machinery will be taken down. He said the "main work of the temple will be completed by October". Emphasising that public 'darshan' (viewing) should not be hindered, Rai highlighted the pending works crucial for the security of the temple complex. They include the construction of the boundary wall, which has not yet begun. He noted that these tasks, along with the construction of the auditorium, restrooms and the Trust office within the complex "may take another year to be completed". The construction of the Ram temple began after a historic Supreme Court judgment in 2019 on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. The Hindu litigants argued that the Babri mosque was constructed at the site of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram. The consecration ceremony was held on January 22 last year.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Bhagalpur and Banka administrations gear up for Shrawani Mela
1 2 3 Bhagalpur: The district administrations of Bhagalpur and Banka are making elaborate arrangements for the month-long Shrawani Mela, to be held from July 11 to Aug 9, during which approximately 50-55 lakh pilgrims visit Sultanganj to fetch holy Ganga water and trek barefoot to Baba Baidyanath Dham at Deoghar in neighbouring Jharkhand, carrying kanwars. The Hindu pilgrims, known as kanwariyas , reach Sultanganj in Bhagalpur from across India, as well as neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Nepal, to fetch holy Ganga water and trek barefoot to Deoghar via routes falling in Banka district. In connection with this, the district officials, including Bhagalpur DM Nawal Kishor Choudhary, city SP Shubhank Mishra, DDC Pradeep Singh, sadar subdivisional officer Vikash Kumar, along with Sultanganj MLA Lalit Narayan Mandal, nagar parishad chairperson Rajesh Kumar Guddu and his deputy Neelam Devi, have reviewed the mela preparations at Sultanganj and the trek routes. They reviewed the preparations made by different departments like road, electricity, health, public health engineering, water resources, food safety, information and public relations among others. Choudhary directed the officials of various departments to ensure that the devotees do not face any problem during the pilgrimage. Choudhary said on Friday that they will ensure a safe, secure and people-friendly pilgrimage during the Shrawani Mela. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo "Flood control divisions will be deployed. Different departments have been asked to make arrangements in accordance with the directives within a week," the DM said. He directed the electricity department to make proper arrangements and improve their infrastructure for an uninterrupted power supply to the Sultanganj region and on the trek routes. The officials concerned were also instructed to ensure adequate street lights on trek routes and at the embankments at Sultanganj Siri Ghat, besides fencing/barricading the area. A direction to the public health engineering department was given to ensure sanitation and availability of pure drinking water through tankers, hand pumps and other means. The officials concerned were also asked to ensure availability of hygienic food and check the rates of the products sold at the shops en route. The health department officials were asked to ensure round-the-clock services, besides the police were instructed to regulate the movement of heavy and big commercial vehicles en route to Sultanganj and on the trek routes to Deoghar. Directives were given to put a layer of fine sand on the trek route, of which nearly 100 kilometres fall in Banka district, for the convenience of the barefoot devotees. Instructions were also given to the officials to cover drains en route and marking them with yellow paint, provide ambulances at Namami Gangey and Siri ghats at Sultanganj, earmark 'panda chowki' and register pandas (pastors), and make parking arrangements. After collecting the holy water of the Ganga at Sultanganj, where the river becomes 'uttarvahini' (flow turning towards north), the devotees trek barefoot nearly 105 kilometres, carrying kanwars on their shoulders, while chanting 'bolo bam'. On reaching Deoghar, the devotees pay obeisance to Lord Shiva by pouring the holy water on the Shivalinga — one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the country — and seek blessings.
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Consonant-gods and vowel-goddesses of many Brahmi scripts
Hanuman wrote Ram's name on rocks while building a bridge to Lanka. The Mahabharata was written by Ganesha who used his tusk as his stylus. This gave rise to the community of scribes known as Kayastha in North India and Karanam in South India. To save themselves from Parashuram, many warriors became scribes and turned their swords into styluses. That's another legend on the origin of scribes. But what script did they write in? Brahmins preferred oral transmission of ideas. So did the Buddhists. Brahmins remembered the hymns composed by Rishis in a complex mode of repetition (patha). Knowledge of various subjects was transmitted as terse sentences (sutra) and rhythmic poetry (shloka). At Buddhist councils, monks would chant all that Buddha had spoken to ensure the transmission was standardised. But while Brahmins managed to keep the fidelity of Vedic hymns, many Buddhist schools emerged with many different ideas. Digambar Jains, who migrated south, argued that all oral transmission of Jain teachings was lost during a famine, and rejected what Shvetambara Jains of Magadha remembered. There was clearly a lot of tension between different monastic and religious schools (pasanda) on what their teachers said and what they did not. This may have prompted Ashoka, the Mauryan king, to adopt writing and prevent loss in transmission. The Ashokan script is popularly called Brahmi, though we do not know what it was referred to then. It is an abugida script – so there are consonants and vowels. The two are used in a creative way to generate syllables. So, it is also a syllabary script. The consonants are known as 'aksharas' (eternal sounds) and the vowels are known as 'matrikas' (mothers). Typically, the consonant is placed in the center and the vowel markings are made around the center. Interestingly the akshara is considered masculine while the matras are considered feminine. The feminine vowels are located in a circle around the masculine akshara almost like the milkmaids dancing around Krishna or the Yoginis dancing around Bhairava. This circular design, like beads on a string, is very distinct from the linear Greek script, where consonants and vowels follow one another like ants in a line. Both are written left-to-right, but in Brahmi scripts the vowels are merged with consonants, and not kept separate. They are distinct from the Semitic script. Not only are Semitic scripts written right-to-left, they are very linear, a series of hooked dashes, with minarets and dots in between, like a silhouette of an Arabian city. The Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts are also like beads on a string – but the beads are square while the Brahmi beads are round. North Indian scripts and South Indian scripts have a common origin in Brahmi. But North Indian scripts have sharper lines because it was written using a paint brush on birch bark (Bhoja Patra). South Indian scripts were circular because they were written on palm leaves (Tada Patra) using an iron stylus. Since sharp angles with iron stylus could tear the palm leaves, scribes developed rounded letterforms. Black powder was sprinkled on the leaves to enter the etchings. In the south, the Vatteluttu (round) script and Grantha (knot) script evolved from Brahmi. Vatteluttu was used to write Tamil while Grantha was used to write Sanskrit. South Indian circular scripts traveled with Buddhist monks and Hindu merchants to Southeast Asia which is why there are local varieties of the Brahmi script, with vowels dancing in circles around consonants, and the design like a set of circular beads on a string. The Nagari script of the Gupta period split three ways – Siddham script in the east, Sharada in the north and Nagari in the west. Siddham was used in Sanskrit texts found in Tibet and in the Bengali language. The Gurmukhi script today is based on the Sharada script that was once popular in Kashmir and bears the name of the goddess of learning in the Valley. Sharada is also the name of the goddess venerated by Adi Shankaracharya in his institutions. Devanagari spread to the west and is seen in Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi. Devanagari, which was established by 1000 AD, became very popular in the 19th century. It was used in nearly 100 languages, the most popular among them being Hindi. Sanskrit, which has no script, began to be written using the Devanagari script. But it was written in other scripts too before the 19th century, something that is often forgotten today. The sister script of Devanagari, developed around 700 AD, is known as Nandinagari. It was used for Sanskrit manuscripts of the Vijayanagara Empire and by Madhva Brahmins for their texts on Dvaita Vedanta. Nandinagari does not have the long line (Shiro-rekha) as in Devanagari and so is related in some way to the south Indian circular scripts. Gujarati also removed the upper line (shiro-rekha) to make it easier to write. Many scribes created their own scripts, usually cursive (where consonants are connected to each other) for easy writing. Some examples include the Modi script used by scribes in western India, the Kaithi script used by Kayastha scribes in the north, and the Karani or Chatta script used by Karana scribes in Odia/Odisha. How are legends about Hanuman and Ganesha related to the origin of writing and scribes? How is Brahmi distinct from Greek and Semitic scripts? What is the origin of North Indian and South Indian scripts? Why did South Indian scripts evolve to become more rounded? Which scripts evolved from the Nagari script during the Gupta period? How did material constraints, such as palm leaves or birch bark, shape the visual form of scripts? (Devdutt Pattanaik is a renowned mythologist who writes on art, culture and heritage.) Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
