Devotees take holy dip in hot springs of Himachal Pradesh on Makar Sankranti

Devotees in Himachal Pradesh took dips in Satluj and Parvati rivers to mark 'Makar Sankranti' which is believed to be a holy day. The devotees went to Tattapani, 50-Km from the state capital, and Manikaran, home to a Sikh shrine in Kullu district, for their holy dips. Tattapani and Manikaran are well-known hot water springs with high sulphur concentration.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 14 January 2016.

The natural and prominent hot springs that were located along the Satluj in Tattapani had disappeared after the construction of the 800 MW Koldam hydroelectric power project that had been executed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Its reservoir has submerged the hot springs.
NTPC had constructed two artificial hot springs near Tattapani but these are are not functional so far. However, there are a few old ones but smaller in size in the town and the devotees go there to carryout the rituals. This year, in view of decline in the number of devotees, there was no official arrangement by the government. Earlier, Tattapani used to have more than 25,000 devotees offering prayers during a holy bath on Makar Sankranti at natural hot water springs there.
Anyway, the devotees took holy dip in Vashist temple on the left bank of Beas river, located on the outskirts of the popular tourist resort Manali. This temple is also known for its hot springs. Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival and also marks the beginning of warmer and longer days compared to the nights.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Abhi Shake for industries to boost Bengal’s image (satire)

Rum Mudda reminds Moody about temples (satire)

Lord Shiva’s solution for global warming – go under water (satire)


Beautiful diners get tables near windows or high visibility areas in restaurants

Ahmedabad hosts 13th edition of 'Sattvik' - the pan-India food festival

53-year-old British woman flew 13000-mile in 1942 bi-plane from Farnborough to Sydney


Shah Rukh Khan’s fond wish - to see Ethan Hunt and James Bond in one movie

'Avatar 2', sequel to 'Avatar' of 2009 expected to release in Dcember 2017

Aamir Khan no longer the face of Incredible India


Motorcycle riding gunmen open fire upon tourists as they boarded bus in Cairo

Woman with fake passport in a British Airways flight from Ibiza leads to panic

German police hunting for seven suicide bombers who planned to blow up Munich railway stations

Apple growers of Manali are worried at ripening of undersize apples

Apple growers of Manali had expected a bumper crop but are, instead, worried about the ripening of undersize apples a month in advance of scheduled season.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 8 August 2015.

This is attributed to incessant rains and rise in temperature and these have wreaked havoc on the apple orchards of the district. Moreover, moss on trees in shady area and premature fall of leaves are other contributing factors. The color of the fruit is already bright red and it is falling off from the branches.
In the opinion of experts, premature fall of leaves (marssonina blotch) adversely affects size, color and quality of fruit. In 2013, incessant rains in June and July and deficient rains in 2014 had affected the quality of apples in Kullu. And, the same is expected to affect the fruit harvest this year also.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Gold smuggling route to India via London - courtesy airline staff

Rat inside Air India’s Dreamliner forces it to abort flight to Milan and return to Delhi

How to improve digestion through proper food items


Ajay Devgn - new look in Drishyam

Salman Khan’s ‘Bajrangi Bhaijan’ is the talk of the town – the cash box is ringing

Jena Malone to appear in the role of Batgirl in Batman v Superman


Gun battle in Multan – Pakistan police eliminate Sunni militant leader and 13 others

Man of Agra kills four minor girls to cure his mentally ill wife on advice of tantrik

ISIS targets Indians in Libya – four teachers returning to India kidnapped


Influence of Bengali culture on Hindi movies

Prawns are the prized catch of the kitchen

How green is our Indian food menu