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Prayers and candle-light vigils were held across Mumbai and various parts of the country on Thursday to pay homage to the victims on the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks.

Jagannath (Sanskrit: जगन्नाथ jagannātha Oriya: ଜଗନ୍ାଥ) is a Hindu deity, a form of Vishnu. The oldest and most famous Jagannath deity is in the city of Puri, in Orissa, India (the city is known to many as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple) where each year the famous Rath Yatra festival takes place. Jagannath is worshipped by Hindus all over India. The Jagannath Temple in Puri is regarded as one of the four most sacred Hindu pilgrimage places in India.

There are two interesting stories associated with this deity. First is the story of how Krishna appeared to a great devotee of the lord, King Indradyumna and ordered him to carve a deity from a log he would find washed up on the sea shore of Puri. He searched for a carpenter to make the deities. King Indradyumna found a mysterious old Brahmin carpenter who appeared and took the responsibility and took a few days to accomplish that. Surprisingly the carpenter insisted that he would not be disturbed while he was carving the deity and start working behind a closed door. Everyone including the King and his Queen were very much anxious and came every day to the closed door and there was sound of working. After 6-7 days of waiting anxiously outside his room, but after some time, all sound stopped. The impatient Indradyumna’s Queen worried what had happened and assuming the worst, opened the doors - only to find the deity half-finished and the carpenter vanished! The mysterious carpenter was none other than Vishvakarma, the heavenly architect. The king was distraught as the deity had no arms and legs. Utterly repentant that he had interrupted the carving, the king was only pacified when the muni (sage) called Narada appeared and explained that the form the king now sees is a legitimate form of the supreme personality of godhead. The second story here was narrated to further explain and remove any doubts and confusion.

The second reason for Lord Jagannath’s appearance is the story of how Krishna was eavesdropping on the gopis as they spoke amongst themselves of His pastimes, and how much they loved him. Sister Subhadra was instructed to keep watch and ensure Krishna wasn’t nearby while the gopis spoke of Krishna. But after a while Subhadra was so overwhelmed by the gopis’ devotion and their stories that she became completely engrossed in listening. She didn’t see the brothers Krishna and Balarama approaching. As the brothers listened their hairs stood on end, their arms retracted, their eyes grew larger and larger, and they smiled broadly in ecstasy. That is why Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra look like they do.

This form is worshiped by Vaishnavas as the abstract form of Krishna. The deities - Jagannath, Balabhadra (Balarama) and Subhadra (Krishna’s sister) are usually worshipped in the temple, but once in every Asadha Masa (Rainy Season, usually June or July), they are brought out onto the main high street of Puri and travel (3 km) to the Mausimaa Temple, allowing the public to have Darshan (holy view) of the deities as they pass. This festival is known as Ratha Yatra. The Rath carts themselves are huge wooden structures built new every year and are pulled by the millions of pilgrims who turn up for the event from all parts of the Globe. The festival commemorates Krishna’s return to His home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from the people there

Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 1999 television series Get Real, but her first prominent role was in Disney’s family comedy The Princess Diaries (2001), which established her career. She continued to appear in family films over the next three years, and she had the lead roles in Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (both 2004). Hathaway wanted to break the “G-rated” image, and consequently, in 2005 she co-starred in the adult-themed Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, both requiring nude scenes. The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she starred opposite Meryl Streep, has become the highest-grossing film of her career. Becoming Jane, in which she stars as Jane Austen, was released in 2007. Her most recent movie, Get Smart, in which she plays the character, Agent 99, was released in June 2008.

Her acting style has been compared to that of Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn and she cites Hepburn as her favorite actress and Streep as her idol. People magazine named her one of 2001’s breakthrough stars and in 2006 she was listed as one of the world’s 50 Most Beautiful People.

Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza, has won the Miss Universe pageant. The 22-year-old stunner beats runners-up from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Russia and Mexico to clinch the diamond-studded golden crown

Amitabh Bachchan born as Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav on October 11, 1942), is an Indian film actor of Hindi cinema. He gained popularity in India in the 1970s as an action hero and over the decades of his career which have since spanned numerous film genres, he has become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.

Bachchan has been awarded major awards in his career, including three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.

Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children, Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor and is married to Aishwarya Rai.

Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) an American Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress, television personality and talk show host. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly. Earlier in her career, Ripa played Hayley Vaughan Santos on All My Children; she also played Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith. Both are television series on ABC.

Ripa acquired her first major acting role as goth teen turned suffering heroine Hayley Vaughan on the soap opera All My Children. While there, the character would become a popular fixture.

Later, Ripa was selected to work alongside Regis Philbin for the long-running talk show Live with Regis and Kelly. Ripa was on double duty, but the following year in 2002, Ripa left All My Children.

A few months before Ripa hosted Live, she appeared on a celebrity version of the Philbin Who Wants to be a Millionaire and walked away with $250,000 for charity.

In September 2003, she was back on double duty when she co-starred (with Faith Ford) on Hope & Faith, a situation comedy. She portrayed Faith Fairfield, a former soap star whose character is killed off and who moves in with (and subsequently wreaks havoc on) her sister Hope’s family. Hope & Faith survived for three seasons before a ratings decline led to its cancellation.

In June 2004, Ripa agreed to continue as Live co-host for at least five more years, at a salary that the tabloid television show Extra reported was $8 million/year. In October 2006, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos, also an actor, were partnering with producers from Hope & Faith on a sitcom for The CW Television Network that would be loosely based on the couple’s experiences as soap opera actors.

In April 2007, Ripa hosted the 2007 TV Land Awards. In May 2007, Ripa stated that she most likely is done with acting for the time being.

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born June 20, 1967), is an Academy Award-winning Australian actress.

After making various appearances in film and television, Kidman received her breakthrough role in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Her performances in several films, such as To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001), and The Hours (2002), have won her much critical acclaim. In 2003, Kidman received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. Kidman is also a UNIFEM and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and a singer. She is also well-known for her former marriage to the actor Tom Cruise and as her current marriage to the noted country musician Keith Urban. Because she was born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship of Australia and the United States of America.

In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest civilian honor.

Charmy Kaur (born May 17, 1987) is a Punjabi  Tollywood actress working in India. She acted with stars such as Simbu, Venkatesh, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Prabhas, Siddarth, Ravi Teja, Sumanth, Nitin, and Jr. NTR.

Charmme was only 15 years old when she acted in her first film, Nee Thodu Kaavali (released March 2002) where she acted as a house wife. This film was a big flop, but helped Charmme get noticed by the south Indian film industry. Her next film was Kadal Azhavatillai with Silambarasan which was also flopped. During this time she acted in a malayalam film directed by vinayan named “Kattuchembakam”. This film also bombed in box office. hero was jayasurya. After that she acted in a couple more Tamil films but they bombed at the box office.

Her re-entry to Telugu movies happened with Sri Anjaneyam, directed by ace director Krishna Vamsi. This too was a failed attempt. It was followed by another failure with Chanti, paired against Ravi Teja. She finally got a big break in Telugu with Gowri in which she paired with Sumanth. She didn’t have to look back afterwards. The stupendous success of Mass with Nagarjuna strengthened her position in Tollywood.

Charmme’s most indistinguishable and critically acclaimed film so far is Anukokunda Oka Roju. It was a heroine-oriented thriller and had her playing the lead in it. Her performance in the movie was acclaimed by critics.

Her recent film, Pournami, was a total failure , but her performance was appreciated. Though she did not learn Indian classical dances, her Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi dances in the film were appreciated by audiences.

Charmme’s latest film Chinnodu is declared a safe-player at the box-office. Her next film, Rakhi (with NTR), is declared a HIT and charmme’s role is appreciated. Another film, Mantra, a thriller with Charmme in the lead role, is currently running with housefull shows. Her performance in the movie is appreciated by wide range of audience.

Genelia studied at Apostolic Carmel High School in Bandra, Mumbai. After school, she joined the St. Andrews College, Bandra to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree. Mumbai-based Genelia starred in the big budget Boys directed by Shankar. The film was a box-office hit and launched her career.

She left Bollywood for a while to concentrate on the Tollywood industry, starring in other successful films including, Satyam, Samba and Sye. She followed it up with a pairing with actor Venkatesh in Subhash Chandra Bose. She returned to the Tamil industry with Sachein with Vijay.It bombed at the box Office. Her film, Happy opposite Allu Arjun was a hit. Her most recent film, Bommarillu, with Siddharth Narayan, is a super hit. Chennai Kadhal, her Tamil project did average business. She was also a part of Mani Ratnam’s stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. Recently, she won the Filmfare Award as a Best Actress for her performance in the block buster Telugu movie Bommarillu for the year 2006. And her recent Telugu film Ready in 2008 is a Super hit. She came back into Kollywood with Santhosh Subramaniam, which is the remake of Bommarillu, and it turned out to be a big hit.

Her debut film in Kannada Satya In Love grossed 4 crores in its opening week thus setting a new record in the Kannada film industry. The film has gone on to become a huge blockbuster.

Her first Hindi film was Tujhe Meri Kasam opposite Ritesh Desmukh. Her second hindi movie was Masti and was also opposite Ritesh. She has also appeared in Mere Baap Pehle Aap. She made her breakthrough in Bollywood starring in youth cult and blockbuster, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na opposite Imran Khan, Aamir Khan’s nephew, released in July 2008. She was highly acclaimed for her role as “Meow”/Aditi.