Kerala airport halts flights for 5 hours for religious procession
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Flight services from the international airport here were suspended for about five hours on Thursday afternoon to make way for the 'Alpassi Arattu' procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here.
The flight services were halted around 4.45 pm and resumed at 9 pm after the procession returned back to the temple, TIAL said.
The airport has been pausing operations and rescheduling flights twice every year for decades to enable the bi-annual centuries-old ceremonial procession of the shrine to pass through the runway.
Sree Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, the present head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family, sporting the traditional green silk cap, an emerald necklace and carrying the ceremonial sword, led the religious procession from the temple to the Shankumugham beach across the airport tarmac.
He was accompanied by a small contingent of police personnel.
The procession began from the shrine at around 5.00 pm and besides the male members of the royal family, a large number of devotees, several caparisoned elephants, a squad of mounted police and a police band were also part of the procession.
The procession moved along the tarmac and reached the beach to the sound of trumpets and drum beats.
After entering the airport premises, the "utsava Vigrahas" (idols) of Padmanabha Swamy, Narasimha Moorthy and Krishna Swami, were kept at the "arattu mandapam" near the runway for some time and later taken to the nearby beach for the rituals.
After a dip in the sea off Shankumugham beach, the idols were then taken back to the shrine in a procession lit by traditional torches marking the conclusion of the festival.
The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) shared photos of the procession in a Facebook post in which it said, "Amidst the rhythm of devotion and the serenity of the moment, the sacred Arattu procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple made its ceremonial passage through our runway, a moment where tradition takes flight.
"At #ThiruvananthapuramAirport, we take immense pride in witnessing this timeless ritual unfold, symbolising a beautiful confluence of faith, culture, and modernity."
Flight services resumed at around 9 pm after the procession returned to the temple and the tarmac was cleaned and declared fit for air operations, an airport source said.
The practice of the temple procession passing through the route to reach the Shangumugham beach for the holy bath of the idols began centuries ago, and it has been continuing even after the establishment of the airport in 1932.
When the airport was constructed in the particular place, the then Travancore King Sree Chithira Thirunal had made it clear that facility would be open for public for 363 days in a year and for two days for Lord Padmanabha, the titular deity of the royal family, according to historians.
The royal-era ritual has been continuing even after the Adani Group took over the management of the airport.
The airport issues a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) twice every year before the runway is closed during the bi-annual Alpassi festival which falls in October-November and the Painkuni festival in March-April.
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Congress leader Harish Rawat files FIR against BJP over 'misinformation' campaign against him
Dehradun (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday filed a police complaint here against the alleged misinformation campaign being carried out against him by BJP on social media.
Rawat, who reached the Nehru Colony police station with his supporters, handed over a written complaint along with a pen drive and other evidence to the police.
Based on this, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and relevant sections of law.
After filing the FIR, Rawat alleged that the police took four hours to register his complaint. He added that if it takes so long for a former CM to file an FIR, one can easily imagine the plight of a common man.
"Finally, after four hours, the police registered the FIR with trembling hands. Their hands were trembling because we have accused the BJP president and his associates, with factual evidence, of misusing AI to tarnish our and our party's image and trying to disrupt social harmony by targeting a particular community," Rawat said.
He expressed hope that after the registration of the FIR, the police would bring the culprits to justice.
Rawat also said, "Just imagine, if the police take so much time to register an FIR of a former CM, what will be the condition of a common man in this state?"
Later, he also handed over a copy of the FIR to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun and the SSP of the Special Task Force. Rawat also said that he would meet the District Magistrate of Dehradun and the State Election Officer with his complaint on Wednesday.
Recently, an AI-generated reel was uploaded on the official social media page of the BJP, which portrayed Rawat as a supporter of appeasement.
In the reel, a Congress leader is heard saying, "I take refuge in Muslims, I take refuge in dargahs (shrines), I take refuge in love jihad." The subsequent images show the construction of a dargah and some people smiling and talking about turning Devbhoomi (the land of gods) into a land of dargahs.
At the end of the reel, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is seen walking with police forces and bulldozers.
Rawat also claimed that another AI-generated video was uploaded from a 'fake' BJP platform, depicting him as a 'traitorous Pakistani agent' engaged in espionage. However, the BJP has denied any connection to this video.
