Jalandhar, Feb 14: A large number of devotees, seeking greener pastures abroad, head towards a Gurudwara devoted to Sant Baba Nihal Singh Shaheedan in Village Talhan of Punjab''s Doaba region.

Thousands of individuals in Doaba region hold this holy shrine in high-esteem. And, these devotees include many of those who have long been nurturing a dream to get a visa to go abroad but couldn''t get it.

The popular feeling about this Gurudwara is that anyone offering a toy plane here can have his or her wish to go abroad fulfilled. Hence a lot of people visit this holy shrine and make a wish to go abroad.

New Delhi, Feb 9: Guru Ravidas Jayanti and the festival of Maghi Purnima are being celebrated with much fervour and gaiety throughout the country today.

Celebrating the last month of winter on Maghi Purnima, a large number of people in Uttar Pradesh are taking holy dips in rivers at several places including Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Chitrakoot and Garhmukteshwar.

The month long bathing festival at Allahabad will also come to an end today with fifth and last religious holy dip on the occasion of Maghi Purnima.

Passau, Germany - The Catholic church sees the faithful leaving the church in droves after the controversial lifting of the excommunication of a group of rightist bishops, a German Vatican expert said Saturday.

Father Eberhard von Gemmingen, the head of Radio Vatican's German service, said in an interview with the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper that a new "wave of exits" had already set in after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of four leaders of the St Pius X Society, one of whom denies the Holocaust.

Tripura, Feb 4: A large number of Tribals in Tripura recently celebrated the Ganga festival to worship the holy river Ganga, which is revered by millions of Hindus in India and across the world as a divine river.

Of many festivals in the hilly northeastern states, Ganga festival holds its own importance in the times of dying cultural heritage.

Washington, Feb 2: A new study has suggested that soil might have had a prominent role in Greek worship in ancient times, strongly influencing the choice of locations for the temples.

To honor their gods and goddesses, ancient Greeks often poured blood or wine on the ground as offerings.

Now, according to a report in Live Science, a survey of eighty-four Greek temples of the Classical period (480 to 338 B. C.), suggests that the soil itself might have played a significant role in Greek worship, influencing which deities were venerated where.

Allahabad, Jan 26 : Thousands of Hindu devotees took a holy dip in rivers across India including ''Sangam'', the confluence of river Ganga , Yamuna and mythical Saraswati today, on the occasion of `Mauni Amavasya'' which marks the new moon day of the Hindu month of Magha.

Braving chilly weather, a large number of devout Hindus from several places including Allahabad, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Mathura, thronged the Sangam in the wee hours of the morning and took the holy dip, after which they visited temples and offered prayers.

Hindus consider the holy dip at ''Sangam'' on ''Mauni Amavasya'' extremely auspicious. The event holds a special sigmificance when it falls on Monday.

A partial solar eclipse is also taking place on the same day.