logo
Grand flag hoisting ceremony at Ram temple in Ayodhya likely in November

Grand flag hoisting ceremony at Ram temple in Ayodhya likely in November

Hindustan Times13-07-2025
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust is planning a grand event for the flag hoisting ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in which sadhus from all over the country will be invited. The event is likely to be organised on November 25 this year. The event will feature the Ram Barat procession, which will be taken out the first time from the Ram temple. (HT file)
However, the Trust is yet to officially announce the date. The Trust has started preparing the list of invitees and its general secretary Champat Rai is overseeing all preparations for the mega event.
'The Trust is planning a grand flag hoisting ceremony in November at Ram Mandir's flagpole. The event is proposed on a large scale and guests from across the country will be invited,'said a member of the Trust. A 42-foot flagpole was installed on the Ram temple on April 29, 2025, ahead of Akshaya Tritiya. It was placed on the temple's peak after the completion of the spire.
'A special flag will be prepared to be hoisted over Ram Mandir which will represent Hindu religion and culture. The event will take place in November,' said VHP regional spokesperson Sharad Sharma who operates from Karsevakpuram. The Trust is planning to organise the event on the same scale as the first Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla was organised on January 22, 2024, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest.
The event will feature the Ram Barat procession, which will be taken out the first time from the Ram temple. The procession might be limited to the temple premises or might be taken out for a city tour, with a final decision pending. Devotees from across the country will participate in the celebrations with lakhs of followers attending the event. According to the Trust, discussions will be held with sadhus and senior officials to finalise the arrangements.
The event will be a significant milestone in the temple's calendar, showcasing the rich cultural heritage and traditions associated with Lord Ram's wedding also.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Thousands gather for Bonalu festival in Hyderabad
Thousands gather for Bonalu festival in Hyderabad

News18

time35 minutes ago

  • News18

Thousands gather for Bonalu festival in Hyderabad

Agency: PTI Hyderabad, Jul 20 (PTI) A large number of devotees and several political leaders converged at the Goddess Mahakaali temples in the city on Sunday to celebrate the 'bonalu' festival during the Hindu month of Ashadha. Thousands of worshippers gathered at the Simhavahini Mahakaali temple at Lal Darwaja here to offer prayers. The devotees offered 'bonam' to the deity as per tradition. The government made elaborate arrangements, including security measures, to ensure the smooth conduct of the event. Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy offered prayers at the Mahakaali temples at Amberpet and Nimboliadda. State Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar visited the Goddess Bhagya Lakshmi temple at Charminar. State Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka offered silk clothes to the goddess at the Khila Maisamma temple. During the Bonalu festival, women cook rice along with milk, jaggery in a new earthen or brass pot adorned with neem leaves, turmeric and vermilion. Women carry these pots on their heads and make an offering of bonam, including bangles and sarees, to the Goddess at temples. The bonalu festival is celebrated at the Golconda fort and also Ujjaini Mahakaali temple in Secunderabad before at the Lal Darwaja Simha Vahini temple. PTI SJR SJR ROH view comments First Published: July 20, 2025, 12:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Why the Supreme Court's new push to regulate social media threatens free expression
Why the Supreme Court's new push to regulate social media threatens free expression

Scroll.in

time5 hours ago

  • Scroll.in

Why the Supreme Court's new push to regulate social media threatens free expression

This week, three separate benches of the Supreme Court spoke of restricting freedom of speech on social media. On Monday, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan was hearing a petition by Kolkata-based Wazahat Khan seeking the consolidation of first information reports registered against him in Assam, Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana over his social media posts. In his posts, Khan had made allegedly offensive remarks about Hindu deities and festivals. Since last month, he has been under arrest for the posts by the West Bengal Police. The bench continued the interim protection the court had granted Khan from arrest in the cases registered outside Bengal. But during the hearing, Nagarathna called for citizens to 'regulate themselves' on social media and exercise 'self restraint … to enjoy' the right to free speech and expression. She noted that the 'abuse of that freedom' was leading to the 'clogging of courts' – without providing any data to support this claim. She then called for 'guidelines to be issued to the citizens to comply'. Over Monday and Tuesday, another bench of the court comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Arvind Kumar heard an anticipatory bail plea by Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya. Malviya had been booked in May for hurting religious sentiments. His offence? Posting on social media a cartoon he had made in 2021 depicting a satirical situation featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a man dressed in what may appear to some as the uniform of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier this month, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had not only rejected his application for anticipatory bail but also called for his arrest. The bench of Dhulia and Kumar granted Malviya interim protection from arrest. However, it called his cartoons 'inflammatory', 'immature' and 'offensive'. Describing this as a widespread problem, Dhulia said on Tuesday that the court would 'have to do something on this', adding that 'there should be a test', presumably about what may be permitted to be posted online. That same day, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi heard three petitions that it was hearing together. Two of the petitions were by YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia and Ashish Chanchlani to club the FIRs filed against them in parts of the country and one by charitable organisation SMA Cure Foundation against comedians Samay Raina, Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar for making jokes about persons with disabilities. During the hearing, Kant told the attorney general that any guidelines framed by the government to regulate online content must 'balance' freedoms and duties. To be clear, under India's constitutional framework, fundamental duties are not grounds to restrict the freedom of speech and expression – or any other fundamental right. In February, while hearing Allahbadia's petition, Kant had first nudged the government to regulate obscene content on YouTube and said that the court 'would like to do something' and not 'leave this vacuum'. Each of these cases illustrates judicial overreach. In none of these cases had the parties sought regulations on online speech. Ideally, the court would have restricted itself to the actual subject of the petitions and adjudicated on them. Instead, it went into the tone and tenor of specific items of online content – not whether these constituted criminal offences – and has called for an online censorship regime. This trend does not bode well for free speech in India. It has revived the Union government's efforts to push for a sweeping Broadcasting Bill. Last year, it had mooted such a bill ahead of the Lok Sabha elections but withdrew it in August amid allegations by news associations and civil society organisations that it impinged on free speech online. It also leads to the right to free speech being circumscribed by public outrage and the sensibilities of judges. The Supreme Court, and all other courts, would do well to remember the judgement delivered in March by a bench comprising Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. Quashing an FIR registered against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi for an Instagram post, the judgement, written by Oka, said: 'Sometimes, we, the judges, may not like spoken or written words. But, still, it is our duty to uphold the fundamental right under Article 19 (1)(a).' Here is a summary of the week's top stories. Opposition leader's son held. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chaitanya Baghel, the son of Chhattisgarh's former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in a liquor scam case. The action came after the central agency conducted searches at their home in Durg district. The agency has alleged that a syndicate of officials, politicians and others ensured a state-run firm bought liquor only from select distributors who paid a commission. This action, the authorities alleged, resulted in over Rs 2,000 crore being diverted from the state exchequer between 2019 and 2022. Chaitanya Baghel received the proceeds of crime generated from the bootlegging of alcohol, claimed the Enforcement Directorate. Bhupesh Baghel claimed on Friday that the agency's action was an attempt to stop him from asking questions in the Assembly about the trees being allegedly felled by the Adani Group. Respite for Indian nurse. Yemeni authorities agreed to postpone the execution of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, which had been scheduled for Wednesday. No new date has been announced. This came a day after the Union government told the Indian Supreme Court that it could not do much more to prevent the action. Hailing from Kerala's Palakkad, Priya was imprisoned in Yemen for the alleged murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in July 2017. In 2020, Priya had been sentenced to death by a trial court in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. On December 30, news reports claimed that Rashad al-Alimi, the chairperson of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, had approved the sentence. Assam eviction drive turns violent. A 19-year-old was killed and several injured after the Assam Police opened fire at protesters amid clashes at the site of an eviction drive in the Betbari area of Goalpara district. At least two police personnel were among the injured. Ten persons were arrested in connection with the violence. Authorities had cleared 140 hectares of land in the Paikan Reserve Forest on Saturday, displacing 1,080 families, most of whom were Muslims of Bengali origin. Since then, the displaced families have been living in tents and tarpaulin huts, which officials had asked them to dismantle. The clashes broke out on Thursday after authorities dug up the road that provided connectivity to the settlement. The state blames the police. Karnataka Police officers acted like 'servants' of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the state government told the High Court hearing the case about the stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Eleven persons were killed during the stampede on June 4. The state government also told the court that police officers had started making arrangements for celebrations after the team's victory in the league without ascertaining who had permitted the event. Further, the government claimed that the cricket team had submitted an application proposing a celebration even before the final match. The government defended the suspension of Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, accusing him of failing to do his duty and causing 'public embarrassment'.

Tirupati Board Suspends 4 Non-Hindu Employees, Members Welcome Decision
Tirupati Board Suspends 4 Non-Hindu Employees, Members Welcome Decision

NDTV

time7 hours ago

  • NDTV

Tirupati Board Suspends 4 Non-Hindu Employees, Members Welcome Decision

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the administrative body that oversees the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh's Tirumala, suspended four employees on Saturday over allegations that they were following religions other than Hinduism, which is a direct violation of the institution's code of conduct. The TTD's decision comes in the wake of internal inquiries and a report submitted by its Vigilance Department. The employees' alleged practice of non-Hindu religious faiths is considered a breach of the institution's code of conduct, which mandates that individuals employed within the TTD system must adhere to the tenets of the Hindu faith in both conduct and practice. "In this context, after examining the report submitted by the TTD Vigilance Department, action was taken against them as per the rules and the four employees were immediately suspended," stated a press release issued by the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of TTD, Tirupati. The TTD has a long-standing rule, reinforced in 2007, which mandates only Hindu employees for its workforce. Bhanu Prakash, BJP TTD Board member supported the suspension and alleged that these employees lacked faith in Hinduism. He said they were using the deity's resources while maintaining faith in other religions. He said that their struggle would continue until the last non-Hindu employee is removed. In a meeting chaired by TTD Chairman B R Naidu, the Board decided to transfer the non-Hindu employees to other government departments or offer them voluntary retirement (VRS). Earlier this July, the Board had suspended its Assistant Executive Officer (AEO) with immediate effect for allegedly practising another faith in his hometown in Tirupati district. In February this year, the TTD Board took action against 18 non-Hindu employees, who allegedly followed other religions despite taking an oath to uphold and follow the Hindu faith when they joined. All of them were barred from taking part in religious activity of the temple and take a transfer to positions that are not connected to the temple.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store