Malabar River Festival 2024: Kayakers From Around the World to Ride White Water Rapids
Kerala's Kozhikode is all set to host the Malabar River Festival 2024, featuring the International White Water Kayaking Championship from July 25 to 28. This exciting event aims to promote white-water kayaking in the region and will be held in Thusaharagiri, Chalipuzha, and Iruvazhinjipuzha. The high-octane events and pre-events will host over 100 national-level kayakers from India and kayaking professionals from over 20 countries.
The Malabar River Festival 2024 is organised by the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, the District Tourism Promotion Council, and the Kozhikode District Panchayat. The Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association is also providing technical support for this major event.
Kashmiri Pandits Take Part in Kheer Bhawani Temple Festival
Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits converged at the Kheer Bhawani temple in Kashmir Valley's Ganderbal district to attend the annual festival of Zyestha Ashtami. Many of them had migrated to different parts of the country in the 1990s in the wake of raging militancy.
The temple of Kheer Bhawani is located amid chinar trees and has a natural spring, which is considered auspicious by Pandits. According to the community, water in the pond ominously turned black in the 1990s and the community had to face a mass migration in the wake of militancy. The Kheer Bhawani temple is also believed to be an icon of the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood of Kashmir. Local Muslims living around the temple complex serve milk in earthen pots to the Kashmiri Pandit devotees on their arrival in Tullamulla town.
Apr 30, 2024
Parul University Hosts the Vadodara Film and Design Festival (VFDF) 2.0
The second edition of the Vadodara Film and Design Festival (VFDF), organised and presented by Parul University's Parul Institute of Design, was a huge success, bringing together the worlds of design and film in one holistic celebration. VFDF 2.0 provided an opportunity to explore the limitless potential of design and cinema with compelling exhibits, hands-on workshops, thought-provoking debates, and dynamic performances. The festival created a vibrant creative environment for interaction among fellow enthusiasts, students, and industry professionals.
VFDF took place over four days and featured a wide guest list, including prominent professionals, artists, and industry specialists. The festival's highlights included a flea market with unique designs and products, informative and interactive sessions on various aspects of film and design, an intercollege fashion show highlighting emerging talent, and an intercollege competition involving universities from all over the region. The festival sought to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration in the film and design industries.
Apr 27, 2024
SC's Thumbs Up to EVMs, Junks PILs Seeking Return of Paper Ballot System
The Supreme Court dismissed PILs seeking return to the paper ballot system or a 100% cross-verification of votes cast through EVMs with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips even as it issued certain directions to the Election Commission to strengthen the current voting system.
After conducting "an in-detail review of the administrative and technical safeguards of the EVM mechanism", the Bench also rejected the demand for manual counting of VVPAT slips.
Giving the thumbs up to the EVM system in the midst of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bench said: "EVMs offer significant advantages. They have effectively eliminated booth capturing by restricting the rate of vote casting to 4 votes per minute, thereby prolonging the time needed and thus check insertion of bogus votes. EVMs have eliminated invalid votes, which were a major issue with paper ballots and had often sparked disputes during the counting process.
Apr 24, 2024
Largest Temple Festival Thrissur Pooram 2024
The southern Indian state of Kerala is renowned for its rich cultural tapestry, encompassing a diverse array of religions, landscapes, rituals, and histories. Amidst this vibrant melting pot, one festival stands out as a true embodiment of Kerala's profound cultural heritage – the Thrissur Pooram.
Thrissur Pooram is a grand temple festival celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm, transcending religious boundaries. Although rooted in Hindu traditions, this seven-day extravaganza brings together people from all walks of life, united in a shared celebration of music, processions, fairs, and a spectacular display of fireworks. This year (2024) it was celebrated on April 20.
Initiated in 1796 by Shakthan Thampuran, the ruler of Cochin from 1790 to 1805, Thrissur Pooram was born out of a desire to uphold the tradition of temple festivals. Originally, temples would participate in the Arattupuzha Pooram, but due to heavy rainfall one year, they were unable to attend. Shakthan Thampuran's vision paved the way for this grand celebration to take root in Thrissur.
The Thrissur Pooram festival is a collaborative effort involving multiple temples, each contributing to its grandeur. The participating temples include Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple, Laloor Bhagavathy Temple, Sree Karthyayani Temple, Kanimangalam Temple, Nethila Kavu Bhagavathy Temple, Paramekkavu Bagavathi Temple, Panamukkumpally Sastha Temple, Pookattikkara – Karamukku Bhagavathy Temple, Chembukkavu Bhagavathy Temple, and Parakkottukavu Bhagavathy Temple.
During the festival, a majestic procession of 50 decorated elephants, accompanied by traditional music, winds its way through Thekkinkadu Maidanam of Thrissur to the famous Vadakkunnathan Temple, where Lord Vadakkunnathan is revered.
Aug 01, 2023
World's Largest Museum to Come up in Delhi
The Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, billed to be the world's largest museum, will be housed in the North and South blocks in New Delhi. The museum will have eight thematic segments telling the story of India spanning over 5,000 years.
The museum will cover an area of 1.17 lakh square metres with 950 rooms spread over a basement and three storeys.
In May, the PM had launched a virtual walk-through of the upcoming museum on the occasion of the International Museum Expo at Pragati Maidan.
The eight thematic segments broadly include ancient Indian knowledge, ancient to medieval, medieval, medieval to transition phase, modern India, the colonial rule (when the Dutch, the British, the Portuguese and others came to India), the freedom struggle and the 100 years from 1947 onwards, including the vision ahead.
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