Women defy tradition by performing last rites

• Women defy tradition by performing last rites

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  • Bhubaneswar
  • Dozens of women in an Orissa village performed the last rites of a poor elderly lady on their own, defying age-old tradition, after the men refused to help, officials said Friday.

  • They conducted all the rituals beginning from cremating the body to performing 'sradha' (last ceremony) as per Hindu customs at Khadiala village in the district of Nuapara, about 600 km from here, a senior district police official told IANS.

    The women also hosted a feast for the villagers Thursday as part of the ceremony on the 12th day of the elderly woman's death, he said.

    The women's group came forward after the men of the village refused to perform the last rites of Sabita Bag, 80, the official said.

    She is survived only by her daughter.

    'We decided to perform the rituals on our own without taking help from male members in the village when the latter refused to help,' Truptirani Singh, who led the women's group, said.

    According to her, the deceased was a poor and helpless woman. After her death, her only daughter, Sangeeta Bag, 39, a widow, pleaded with fellow villagers to cremate the body. But no man came forward.

    A distraught Sangeeta then sought the help of a local women's self help group.

    'All the members gathered in our office and we decided to take the entire responsibility on our own. Accordingly, we made necessary arrangements to take the body to the cremation ground on our shoulders. We also arranged the wood,' she said.

    'We conducted all the rituals after her death without taking help from men.'

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Telegraph Nepal : Indian Check-Post in Nepal’s Territory: Example of Traditional amity

• Telegraph Nepal : Indian Check-Post in Nepal’s Territory: Example of Traditional amity

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Reports say that Indian paramilitary forces have established a check-post in Pyartal of Kailali. Right inside the Nepali territory understandably or else why this news?  A medieval act indeed…unlikely for a democratic nation like India. Isn’t it?

After the Indian security forces established a check post in Pyara Tal (Lake), India has with full force occupying the nearby Nepali territories. The Nepali population has been barred from entering into their own landmass. The Indian security personnel of Sumerganj Check-post whipped off the Nepali population and said that the territory and the lake also belonged to India.

“The speed of territory grab by India has increased after a parliamentary delegation from Nepal visited the area”, say locals.

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Maha Kumbh Mela, Maoist attack wean away Pashupatinath pilgrims

• Maha Kumbh Mela, Maoist attack wean away Pashupatinath pilgrims

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  • Kathmandu

  • Though tens of thousands of devotees lined up at the gates of the revered Pashupatinath temple of Nepal Friday to offer worship on the occasion of Mahashivratri, there was a noticeable dip in the number of Indians, weaned away by the concurrent holy festival in India's Haridwar city and past Maoist attacks on the Nepal shrine.

    The Naga sadhus of India, remarkable for their disdain to wear any clothes despite the biting cold and a perennial draw for pilgrims and tourists, were noticeably fewer in number this year even as the number of Indian pilgrims dropped though the trust running the Pashupatinath shrine said it expected over 600,000 visitors.

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    For the first time in the history of the temple, the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust (PADT), following the system in southern Indian temples, levied an admission fee of NRS 1,000 at the eastern gate to well-heeled pilgrims who wanted to avoid queuing up.

  • Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav will pray at the shrine after attending Army Day celebrations.

    Also making a low-key visit to the shrine will be deposed king Gyanendra.

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India’s only metropolis- Hindustan Times

• India’s only metropolis- Hindustan Times

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  • Which brings me to Delhi. It is the only city in India where anyone from anywhere in India or the world can come and set up home. No one, not even the Punjabis and the Jats, own the city. There is no organised group trying to stake claim to the city for ‘real Delhiites’. There are no mobs trying to throw immigrants out. If you are from North-east India or South India, you will face difficulties. But eventually, the city will accept you. Contrast this to the politics of insider and outsider that the North-east has seen for decades. Think back to how many thousands in the North-east have been killed or rendered homeless merely because they were not ethnically ‘locals’.

    That doesn’t happen in Delhi. This place may seem coarse, but it doesn’t have the real barbarians: the Senas and unions that attack ‘outsiders’. Anyone from anywhere can claim to be a true Delhiite. That is why Delhi is the only metropolis in India.
    

     

     

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Shiva Lingam made of Rudraksha beads attracts hundreds in Valsad | TopNews

• Shiva Lingam made of Rudraksha beads attracts hundreds in Valsad | TopNews
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  • Submitted by Saurav Shukla
  
  • Hundreds of devotees visited Dharampur town in Gujarat’s Valsad district to see the 25 feet tall Shiva lingam, which was made entirely of Rudraksha beads on the occasion of Mahashivratri on Friday.
    The Rudraksha Shiva Lingam has been created by Batuk Vyas, a devotee of Lord Shiva and Rudraksha expert, every year during the Mahashivratri festival.
  • Valsad (Gujarat)
  • "The question is why we created such a huge structure of Rudraksha beads? Before wearing the Rudraksha, one needs to worship it and perform some rituals. So, on the occasion of Mahashivratri and Maha Kumbh, we have created this huge structure with Rudraksha to pay respect to Lord Shiva. There is no better way than this to offer our prayers on this occasion. The aim behind this was purely to offer prayers to Lord Shiva," Vyas said.
  • Around 800,000 Rudraksha beads have put to use and it took about 19,000 hours to create this Shiva Lingam. (ANI)

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