Free Republic

As many as 400 million Hindu pilgrims are expected to visit Prayagraj, India, during this year’s 45-day Maha Kumbh Mela festival. Held every 12 years at one of four places in India, the Kumbh Mela is considered to be an especially auspicious time to bathe in the Triveni Sangam—the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers—for purification from sin.

Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was on Tuesday spotted in Prayagraj for participation in the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. She was given the Hindu name “Kamala” during her visit by the Niranjani Akhara, as if granting her the right to solidify her inter-connection with Hinduism. Powell Jobs, in her philanthropy and as Emerson Collective’s CEO, has openly professed being an admirer of Hindu thought. This journey to Prayagraj comes as a direct reflection of these interests as Powell Jobs interacts with spiritual leaders and surrounds herself with religious and cultural celebrations of the Kumbh Mela. The...

A department spokesman termed the find, discovered at Farmana Khas, about 12 kilometers from Meham on Julana Road, as very significant. He said till now urban settlements of the civilisation -- Banawali, Bhirdana and Rakhigarhi -- had come to light in the state, but this was the first discovery of the ruins of a city. He said the site of the discovery, popularly known as Daksh Khera, was spread over 32 acres and the ruins were under a three-metre high hillock.