Devotees throng Swarnala Cheruvu on first day of ‘Rottela Panduga'
Not only the people from Muslim community, but persons from other religions also come in large numbers to participate in this unique festival. The main ritual of this festival is to take a holy bath in the lake ghat and exchange 'roti' or bread.
Keeping in mind the rush of devotees, the State government has made extensive arrangements including special tents, drinking water facilities, and free food in the premises to ensure that there is no inconvenience.
The arrangements are being reviewed by District Collector O. Anand and Superintendent of Police (SP) G. Krishnakanth to ensure that the festival is conducted peacefully. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the main aim is to satisfy the devotees who come from far off places. Later, he directed the officials to take precautions in the queue lines so that darshan shall be done quickly.
Meanwhile, the municipal and sanitation workers are working tirelessly to provide a clean environment in the surroundings of the lake ghat, showers, and toilets. The police command control room has played a key role in handing over the missing children, elderly people and women to their family members.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- The Hindu
T.N. government plans survey to understand in-migration of labourers from other States, implications for State's economy
The Tamil Nadu government is planning to undertake an inter-State migrant labour survey aimed at understanding in-migration, its changing pattern and implications for the State's economy. The Commissionerate of Labour has floated a tender for conducting the survey. According to the tender document, the estimated population of inter-State migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu is around 35 lakh. They are working in various sectors, including construction, mining, quarries, hospitality, manufacturing, textiles, and shops and other commercial establishments. The proposed survey aims to understand migration (the process, mode of recruitment, and migration history), analyse the working and living conditions (accommodation, food, and other living expenses) of the migrants, understand their health condition (access to health check-ups and health centres), understand their social welfare (social security schemes), and provide policy suggestions. It aims to cover all 38 districts, and would focus on individual migrants who have left their family behind and come to the State, and migrants with families and children working in various sectors across Tamil Nadu. 'The survey will cover a 100% enumeration of these workers and not a sample one,' as per the survey implementation plan. The target group of the study are migrant workers who have less secure jobs and are vulnerable, and would include migrants from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the northeast. In 2015, the Tamil Nadu Migration Survey was conducted by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Tamil Nadu government, with support from Loyola College, Chennai, and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, and with a sample size of 20,000. 'The inter-State in-migration in Tamil Nadu seems to be an urban phenomenon as the majority of the population migrating from other States is enumerated in the urban areas,' it said. In 2016, a survey on inter-State migrants was undertaken in Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts by Loyola Institute of Social Science Training and Research of Loyola College, and Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru. The survey, with a sample size of 730, said that about 85% of the respondents were from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. As per the 'Report on Life and Times of Migrant Workers in Chennai Region - 2024-25', released by the State Planning Commission, a majority of the migrant workers in Chennai region (Chengalpattu, Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts) were from the eastern and northeastern regions of the country, particularly from Bihar, Odisha, and Assam. Earlier this month, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment informed Parliament that the number of unorganised workers, including migrant workers, registered on the eShram portal (as on August 5, 2025) in Tamil Nadu stood at 93,15,434.
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Time of India
Boys out, girls in: How Muslim girls in Hyderabad kicked down barriers with football
In Hyderabad's Old City, a group of young Muslim girls are challenging traditional norms by reclaiming a local playground for themselves. SAFA India's 'Girls on Ground' initiative empowers girls aged 7-17 to play football, breaking down barriers and changing community perceptions. For 17 years, Saba has called Chatta Bazaar her home. But it was not until April that she finally saw the inside of the local public playground — just about 600 metres from her home, in one of the many constricted gullies of Hyderabad's Old City. This had happened not because the gates of the ground — popular, ironically, as Balsetty Khet Ground (a ground for children) — were closed. It was just an unsaid rule of the neighbourhood: women, stay out. But now, for the first time, an army of young Muslim girls from the area have kicked down the traditional practice and dribbled their way into the centre, reclaiming their right to the public space. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad | Gold Rates Today in Hyderabad | Silver Rates Today in Hyderabad What started small in 2022, as part of the Girls on Ground initiative by Hyderabad-based NGO SAFA India — and had to be briefly stalled, owing to lack of funding — now has about 60 girls, aged between 7 and 17, on board. Every evening, at least half this squad, many of them with hijabs pinned around their head, gather at the playground for a game of football, complete with coaches, gear and a warm-up regime. And while it is heartening to see the Messi and Ronaldo jerseys glisten in the afternoon sun as the adolescent footballers shoot for goal, what transpires right outside the ground's gates is even more encouraging: local boys leaning on the railing, playing spectator to a sport they once believed was their fief. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo They wait patiently for the girls to finish before taking the field. 'This transition has taken a while,' says Rubina Nafees Fatima, president of SAFA. She says the project was met with stiff resistance. 'Nobody had ever seen a woman set foot on the ground before, and this change wasn't welcome. Onlookers gathered all around, impatiently waiting for the girls to leave. It took weeks of consistently showing up, to change the tide in our favour,' she adds. Today, the neighbourhood has not just warmed to the sight of the girls taking over the ground between 4pm and 6pm, but has also made this evening ritual a part of their daily routine. The girls are overjoyed. 'I love that I can finally get to play here with my cousins and friends,' says 14-year-old Marzia, who has been hailed as a local 'champ' for her many achievements at stateand nationallevel footfall over the years. The seasoned midfielder admits that 'playing with the boys at the local club is competitive, but not comfortable.' 'Here, we can just be ourselves,' says Mina, another teenage local star, who loves to dominate the forward position. 'Everybody gets their chance, there's no insecurity.' The team's goalkeeper and defender, Kaushar, nods in agreement. 'The game teaches us about the power of unity, to be in control of our lives. This is sure to help us in the long run,' the 15-year-old adds. The excitement of an exclusive play area is palpable even among the tiny tots sitting on the bench, cheering for their favourites as the game kicks off. 'I rush here after school. I don't miss a single day,' says Masooma, who's in Class 4, among the youngest in the team. And when the team huddles during break to cheer for Girls on Ground, the little footballer jumps in first to proudly announce that she'll grow up to become 'just like Messi'. Health Issues In Check Access to the playground has done much more than make a social statement. It's helped the girls beat health issues — anaemia, asthma, diabetes and arthritis have been kept in check through consistent practice. Umm al-Banin, for instance, had blood sugar levels upwards of 350 when she joined the squad at the ground in Darulshifa four months ago. 'Now, her condition is not as bad as it used to be,' says Imam Hussain, director (operations) at SAFA, about the 11-year-old who adores Ronaldo. According to him, this is true of many of the girls — owing to poor nutrition at home. Asthma is another grave concern. 'There are some players who, when they started out, couldn't even complete one round of the ground because of this. Now, they do multiple rounds comfortably,' he adds. Even 12-year-old Wajiha Fatima used to have trouble with training because early-onset arthritis made her knees weak. Today, she is a state-level player. Her mother, Butool Fatima, who escorts her to the playground every day, wears her victories with pride. 'When we were growing up, I couldn't imagine a playground just for girls. Our playtime ended at school. So, when this initiative started, I was certain to enrol my daughter, come what may,' Butool says. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
India Today
a day ago
- India Today
Ashoka's 2,281-year-old edict in Bihar still under shared custody after 108 years
More than a century after Emperor Ashoka's Minor Rock Edict on Chandan Sahid Hill in Bihar's Rohtas district was declared a protected monument, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) still does not have full possession of the replies accessed by India Today in March 2023 and August 2025 reveal that, despite being declared protected on December 1, 1917, the 2,281-year-old inscription remains under shared custody between the ASI and local Muslim ASI confirmed in its RTI response: "Ashoka's inscription on the Chandan Sahid Hill, District Rohtas, was declared a protected monumentvide notification no. 1814 E, dated 01.12.1917." Yet, even today, the agency acknowledges that it is only a partial custodian, compelled to share inscription, dating back to 257 BCE in Ashoka's 13th regnal year, consists of eight lines in archaic Brahmi script, though a portion is ASI described it as a priceless record of India's ancient past, noting that it "probably contains a date referring to the death of Buddha; but no convincing interpretation of it has yet been found."Religious appropriation of the site, however, predates official protection. The Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteer, Shahabad (1924) recorded that local Muslims revered the cave as "Chiragdan" or the "Lamp of Saint Chandan Pir", after the dargah on the ASI reiterated in its RTI reply that "the hill where the inscription is found appears to have been appropriated later on by the Mohammedans".In November 2022, after decades of negotiations, the Mazar Committee formally handed over one key of the locked cave to the ASI's Sasaram the arrangement of dual control continues. The 2025 RTI response confirmed: "The keys of the entry gate of CPM 'Ashokan inscription at Chandan Sahid hill' are in the possession of two institutions, one with the ASI, and another with Mr. G.M. Ansari of the Sher Shah Suri Trust, Sasaram."Speaking to India Today, GM Ansari of the Mazar Committee said, "Whenever tourists come, we cooperate and open the gate. But this is also the shrine of Chandan Pir Baba, since the time of Bakhtiyar Khilji. That is why the hill is known as Chandan Pir Hill."He added that while the Committee facilitates entry, "since the time of Bakhtiyar Khilji, the shrine of Rehmatullah Aaleh Chandan Pir Baba has stood here," tying the site to centuries of religious also claimed that day-to-day upkeep largely falls to the Mazar Committee and local administration, alleging that ASI staff "do nothing" on the only we had the key. Later, after pressure, one key was given to the ASI. Now, tourists can see the site through either of us," he said, adding that records show ASI guards were appointed as far back as 1960 but "rarely seen" until after District Tourism Officer Vinay Pratap, however, maintained that responsibility lies with the ASI: "The protection and management of Ashoka's inscription rests with ASI. Two staff are posted here to show the monument to visitors and coordinate with researchers."Preservation also remains in limbo. In 2023, the ASI's Patna Circle and Science Branch found lime plaster damage and planned in its 2025 reply, the Circle admitted: "Damage assessment records are not available with this Circle. The same are maintained separately by the Science Branch."The ASI insists the site is open to the public, but entry depends on the dual-key arrangement, requiring cooperation from both sides. Visitors, researchers, and pilgrims alike remain reliant on whether the ASI or the Mazar Committee unlocks the gate.- Ends
