Varanasi: With the installation of idols of goddess Durga and rituals of their praan pratishtha (invocation) on the auspicious occasion of Saptami (seventh day of Navratri), the footfall of devotees ...

On this day, devotees place books, musical instruments, and learning tools before the idol or image of Goddess Saraswati. The invocation involves chanting Vedic mantras, offering flowers, fruits, and ...

All the clichés about “these strange times” and “the new normal” are beginning to grind as we try to make sense of the Covid-19-endangered world we live in. And while we mourn the ill, the dying and ...