Temples

Khaps caution Arya Samaj temples against same village weddings

Notorious for pronouncing bizarre verdicts on social issues, Haryana's community councils, the khaps, on Sunday asked the Arya Samaj not to solemnise at its temples weddings between couples from the same gotra (lineage) and village. ...  

SC dismisses PIL on crowd management at religious places

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to direct the Union and state governments to enact laws for effective crowd and disaster management at religious places to avoid loss of human lives in stampedes during festivals. "No PIL can be entertained on the issue," said a bench of Justice H L Dattu and Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad. The bench, however, granted liberty to petitioner Vineet Dhanda, a lawyer, to...  

Nitish visits temple during his maiden visit to Pakistan

Karachi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday undertook a whirlwind tour of interior Sindh, visiting a temple and addressing a Hindu panchayat, where he said that India and Pakistan need to co-exist peacefully and work for good governance in the region. "I have brought a message of peace, love and brotherhood from India," Kumar said while addressing a Hindu panchayat in interior Sindh, adding that the frequency and number...  

FTN: Are universal toilets more important than temples?

Sagarika Ghose: Yes we are focusing tonight on temples and toilets. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said "Mandir se bhi zyada pavitra hai shauchalaya". Even purer than a temple is a toilet, is he insulting Hindu sentiment or making a strong argument to challenge the Indian mentality on toilets? Remember 626 million Indians still defecate in the open. We're asking are universal modern toilets much more important than temples....  

Nirvana in the loo

Bloody Mary |  Sagarika Ghose

Reforms are as much about toilets as they are about FDI Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's statement that a nation's salvation lies in more ...

FTN: Are universal toilets more important than temples?

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that toilets are more pure and holy than temples. ...

FTN: Jairam Ramesh says toilets are more pure and holy than temples: Are universal toilets more important than temples?

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh says toilets are more pure and holy than temples. Tonight at 10, CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose discusses with a panel of experts whether universal toilets are more important than temples. You can ask a question to our panelists here or tweet us @face_the_nation. 

Jairam alone can explain his temple vs toilet remark: Congress

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday stirred a controversy for reportedly comparing toilets to temples. Saying that toilets were far more important than temples, he proceeded to comment upon the poor hygiene levels in the latter. While the BJP has slammed Ramesh, the Congress too has distanced itself from the comments. ...

BJP lashes out at Jairam for remarks on temples

New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has stirred a controversy for comparing toilets to temples. Ramesh said that toilets are more important that the temples in our country also commenting on poor hygiene levels in the latter. While the BJP lashed out at Ramesh, the Congress has distanced itself from the comments. Congress, which has gone into an overdrive defending Robert Vadra, stated that it is best to leave...  

B'desh: 10 Buddhist temples, 50 homes torched; 170 held

Dhaka: Bangladesh accused Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on Monday of involvement in attacks on Buddhist temples and homes in the southeast and said the violence was triggered by a photo posted on Facebook that insulted Islam. Thousands of Muslims went on a rampage in Buddhist areas of Bangladesh near the border on Saturday, setting ablaze more than a dozen temples and monasteries and at least 50 homes. Property was...  

Priests, staff of 18,000 Andhra temples go on strike

Hyderabad: Arjitha Sevas to deities in about 18,000 temples across the state came to a halt with temple priests and employees going on an indefinite strike. But all major temples with revenue of more than Rs 1 crore functioned normally and ensured that devotees were not put to inconvenience. Arjitha Sevas are rituals performed at temples on payment of a fee by devotees. Though devotees had a hard time having...  

Karnataka temples pray for rain on govt order

Bangalore: Praying for rains has begun in Karnataka, following a government order to 34,000 temples to do special pujas and havans to invoke the rain god Varuna at a cost of Rs 17 crore. Call it a coincidence that the gods are listening to the monsoon-mantras, but the clouds have opened up to some extent it seems. Karnataka is seeing some rainfall on Friday. The BJP government has sanctioned a...  

K'taka drought: Govt wants temples to pray

New Delhi: Even as Karnataka reels under its worst drought in 42 years, the state government is busy doling out money to temples instead of taking concrete steps. Reports suggest that the BJP government has sanctioned a total of Rs 17 crore for 34,000 temples across Karnataka, which means each temple would get Rs 5,000 for holding "special prayers" for rain. The circular forwarded to temples by the Department of...  

AP temples deposit 164 kg unused gold with SBI

Rajahmundry: In an attempt to convert unused temple gold into a source of income, the endowments department has deposited around 164 kg of gold belonging to 33 temples falling under 6(A) category in North Andhra region with the State Bank of India under the Gold Bond Scheme (GBS) in the last three years. The department move came after the state government approved deposit of temple gold with the SBI. The...  

Kerala: 2 temples looted, inmate murdered

Tiruvalla/Alappuzha: Robbers struck at two temples early on Wednesday killing an inmate in one and looting valuables from both. An inmate of the Kallooppara Bhagavathi Temple at Mallappally was murdered and the cupola which contained 15 sovereigns of gold worth Rs 5 lakh was stolen. In the second incident, a gold crown weighing 48 grams and a gold chain weighing 23 grams wwere looted from the Sree Krishnaswami Temple, Mavelikkara,...  

HC for scrapping special passes to VIPs in TN temples

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday suggested either scrapping issuing special passes to VVIPs and VIPs visiting temples in Tamil Nadu or framing clear guidelines for devotees as had been done in neighbouring states. "The Advocate General is directed to seek instructions as to why the government should not come out with clear guidelines as to who shall be exceptionally treated and further as to why this pass system...  

Telangana temples neglected: TRS chief

Karimnagar: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao accused the government of neglecting Telangana temples. Speaking to mediapersons in Karimnagar on Monday after offering prayers at the Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple, he demanded the government to acquire 100 acres for the development of Vemulawada temple town. Stating that Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple has a historical background, the TRS supremo said that he prayed the presiding deity to help create separate Telangana...  

Goa temples ban foreigners, impose dress code

Panaji: Scantily-clad tourists in beach wear have not gone down well with temple authorities in Goa with some laying down a strict dress code for visitors and another barring foreigners. While the Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Mardol, 20 km from Panaji has put up a board stating that "Entry Restricted for Foreign Tourists", the Mangueshi Temple at Mangueshi village, and Ramnathi temple at Ponda have put a dress code in...  

LeT threatens to blow up temples in Punjab, HP

Phagwara: Two letters threatening that terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) will blow up key temples in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on June 5 to avenge the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden were received by police on Tuesday. One letter warns Hindus against undertaking pilgrimage to Amarnath cave and Mata Vaishno Devi shrines in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the letters, which were purported to have been written by LeT...