This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

Sabarimala
—  Pilgrimage town  —
Sabarimala
Coordinates: 9°26′15″N 77°04′50″E / 9.4375°N 77.0805°E / 9.4375; 77.0805Coordinates: 9°26′15″N 77°04′50″E / 9.4375°N 77.0805°E / 9.4375; 77.0805
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Pathanamthitta District
Elevation	468 m (1,535 ft)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Telephone code	0473
Vehicle registration	KL-03
Website	www.sabarimala.kerala.gov.in

Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in world with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year.^[1][2] Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan meditated after killing the powerful demoness, Mahishi. Ayyappan's temple is situated here amidst 18 hills. The temple is situated on a hilltop at an altitude of 468 m (1535 ft) above mean sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While functional and intact temples exist at many places in the surrounding areas like Nilackal, Kalaketi, and Karimala, remnants of old temples survive to this day on remaining hills.

Sabarimala is linked to Hindu pilgrimage, predominantly for men of all ages. Women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not allowed to enter the temple, since the story attributed to Ayyappa prohibits the entry of the women in the menstrual age group. This is because Ayyappan is a Bramachari (Celibate). The temple is open for worship only during the days of Mandalapooja (approximately November 15 to December 26), Makaravilakku (January 14- "Makara Sankranti") and Vishu (April 14), and the first six days of each Malayalam month.

The pilgrimage[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Crowd management of pilgrims

The devotees are expected to follow a vratham (41-day penance) prior to the pilgrimage [1]. This begins with wearing of a special Mala (a garland made of Rudraksha or Tulasi beads). In general from then they are to refrain from non-vegetarian food of any kind (except dairy) alcohol, and tobacco, engaging in sex, using foul language, hair-cuts and shaving. They are expected to bath twice and visit the local temples regularly and only wear plain black, blue or saffron coloured traditional clothing. The visit to Sabarimala is thought for settling the shani-dasha to make the planet give better life and lifespan. This is according to astrological principles of controlling shani-dosha.

Hundreds of devotees still follow the traditional mountainous forest path (approximately 52 km) from Erumely, believed to be taken by Ayyappa himself. The part starts from Erumely to Aludha river, then crosses the Aludha mountain to reach Karivilam thodu. Now comes the sacred Karimala crossing, from there to Cheriyanavattom, Valliyanavattom and finally Pamba River. Then have claim neeleemala and we enter into the ganesh bettam, shreeram betta padam.Aranmula kottaram is one of the halt place of holy journey 'thiruvabharana khosayatra'. But many people use vehicular traffic which can go till the Holy Pamba River by an alternate road. Thereafter, all the pilgrims have to follow a mountainous forest trekking path approximately nine kilometers up a steep hill (Neeli Mala) to Sabarimala. This path, now developed, with shops and medical aid by the sides, used to be a mere trail through dense forest.

Administration[link]

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), a government owned body, administers the temple. TDB has insured the Ayyappa's shrine for a value of Rs 30 crore ($7 million) and also introduced a free-of-cost accident insurance project for pilgrims visiting the temple. The pilgrims' insurance scheme offered up to Rs 1 lakh to the devotees suffering injuries or death at a stretch of about 18 km from Nilakkal to uphill Sannidhanam where the temple is located. An estimated 5 crore (50 million) pilgrims visits the temple every year.

Sabarimala is the main income source of the board, with Rs.50 crore accruing to it from there during the previous pilgrimage season (Nov.2010-Jan.2011).^[3] The monthly income from the rest of the temples in Kerala was Rs.57 crore.^[3]

Priesthood[link]

Kantararu Maheshwararu of Thazhamon family is the Thantri (Head Priest) of Sabarimala.

Prasadams[link]

The prasadam at Sabarimala temple is Aravana payasam and Appam. These are prepared by using rice, ghee, sugar etc. The rice needed to prepare prasadam at Sabarimala is supplied by Chettikulangara Devi Temple, the second largest temple under Travancore devaswom board situated at Mavelikkara.

Harivarasanam[link]

Harivarasanam^[4] is recited before closing the temple door every night. Harivarasanam song, which is sung at Sabarimala as a lullaby at night (Urakkupattu) was composed by Sri Kambangudi Kulathur Srinivasa Iyer. It is said that Srinivasa Iyer used to recite the composition, after the Athazha Puja, standing in front of the shrine of Ayyappa in the main temple. With the efforts of Swami Vimochanananda, it came to be accepted as the lullaby by the Thantri and melshanthi. The composition has 352 letters, 108 words in 32 lines (8 stanzas).^[5]

Though there have been many versions of this song sung by many renowned vocalists, the temple plays the rendition by K. J. Yesudas, composed by the renowned music director G. Devarajan, which is in the 'Madhyamavathi' raga of Indian Karnatic music. Harivarasanam is written in Malayalam.

Neyyabhishekam[link]

This significant ritual involves pouring sacred ghee brought by pilgrims in their Pallikettu or Irumudi (A two compartment bag made of handwoven cotton cloth used to bear the offerings for Sabarimala Temple by the devotees and carried on their heads)on the idol of Lord Ayyappa. It symbolically means the merging of Jeevatma with the Paramatma.While a Saffron coloured Irumudi is used by a pilgrim on his first journey(Kanni Ayyappan) to Sabarimala, others use black or Navy Blue coloured Irumudi.

Makara Vilakku[link]

Lord Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana met Sabari, a tribal devotee, at Sabarimala. Sabari offered the Lord fruits after tasting them. But the Lord accepted them gladly and whole-heartedly. The Lord then turned and saw a divine person doing tapas. He asked Sabari who it was. Sabari said it was Sasta. Rama walked towards Sasta and the latter stood up and welcomed the Prince of Ayodhya. The anniversary of this incident is celebrated on Makara Vilakku day. It is believed that on Makara Vilakku day, Lord Dharmasasta stops his tapas to bless his devotees.

Aham Brahmasmi and Tattvamasi[link]

The important message given at the temple is the ultimate knowledge that each individual is a God unto himself/herself, Tat Tvam Asi in Sanskrit meaning "That is you". Due to this pilgrims call each other Swami.

Tat Tvam Asi, meaning "That Thou Art" is the message that is given out by the Lord. It means, in short, you are part of the Universal Soul (in Sanskrit "Paramatma") which is the quintessence of Advaita philosophy. It also means for reaching Paramatma or Universal Soul. this mahavakya suggested by swami chinnmayananda(1916–1993) in end of 70's

Illumination and Power[link]

In this remote hill shrine the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is shouldering the task of providing sufficient illumination in base camps, trekking paths and the Sannidhanam, the shrine spot. KSEB installs and maintains around 15000 electric lamps of various types here. Power is brought here through Kochu Pampa and Thriveni Substations. Through uninterrupted supply and well maintained lights KSEB has been able to maintain good reputation in the recent years.

Historicity of the Ayyappa Temple[link]

There is no clear evidence as to when did the pilgrimage to Sabarimala begin. After the installation of the temple, it was mostly unreachable for about three centuries. One of the kings in the later generation rediscovered the traditional paths to reach Sabarimala. He had many followers with him, including the descendants of the Vavar family. They refreshed their resources at Erumely and this marked the beginning of the famous Petta Thullal at Erumely. They laid down their arms at the place today known as Saramkuthy. Those who are on their maiden visits to Sabarimala thrust arrows at this place. The temple was then renovated. In 1821 AD, the kingdom of Pandalam was added to Travancore. 48 major temples including the Sabarimala temple were also added to Travancore. The idol was erected in 1910^{[citation needed]} . The temple conflagrated in 1971 and underwent a major revamp.

The history behind the worshipping methods[link]

The customs of the pilgrims to Sabarimala are based on five worshipping methods; those of Shaivites, Shaktists and Vaishnavites. At first, there were three sections of devotees – the devotees of Shakti who used meat, liquor and drugs to worship their deity, the devotees of Vishnu who followed strict penance and continence, and the devotees of Shiva who partly followed these two methods. Another name of Ayyappa is Sastha. All these can be seen merged into the beliefs of pilgrims to Sabarimala. The chain the pilgrims wear comes from the Rudraksha chain of the Shaivites. The strict fasting, penance and continence is taken out of the beliefs of the Vaishnavites. The offering of tobacco to Kaduthaswamy can be considered to be taken from the Shaktists.

Pullumedu stampede[link]

On Friday 14 January 2011, a human stampede occurred just outside the pilgrimage, after a vehicle fell down on the small pathway. Around 100 people were reported dead, with roughly 100 more injured. The accident happened in Pulmedu, around 25 kilometers by road from the forest shrine in Pathanamthitta District.

^{[6][7] [8]}

Advance Q-Placement Coupon online booking[link]

• This facility is provided by Kerala Police as a part of Crowd Management which in turn saves precious time of the Pilgrims.
• The print out generated after registration (Q-Coupon) and Identity Card used for registration must be brought while coming for Darshan.
• The print out (Q-Coupon) and ID card are to be produced for verification by Police officials.
• Children aged below 15 do not require identity card but photograph is essential.
• The scanned passport size photograph must be in jpg / jpeg and size below 30 KB.
• Females aged between 10 to 50 are not allowed to perform pilgrimage at Sabarimala.

Important Instructions to be followed in Queue Placement Coupon Booking. 1) Identity Card. 2) Scanned passport size photo having size less than 30 KB in JPG or JPEG format

• This facility is limited, to devotees who are coming to Sabarimala with Irumudikettu.

^[9]

Other famous temples near Sabarimala[link]

• Sree Dharma Sastha Temple Ranni-Perunad [ശബരിമലയില്‍ ചാര്‍ത്തിയ ശേഷം തിരുവാഭരണങ്ങള്‍ മടക്കയാത്രയില്‍ ഇവിടെ ചാര്‍ത്തുന്നു (ജനുവരി 21 )]
• Lord Murugan Temple, Erumpoonnikara, Erumely, Kottayam
• Nilakkal Temple, Pathanamthitta
• Malayalappuzha Temple, Pathanamthitta
• Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple
• Rektha Kanda Swamy Temple, Omallur, Pathanamthitta
• Mahadeva Temple, Chengannur
• Srevallabha Temple, Thiruvalla
• Kaviyoor Anjaneya Temple, Thiruvalla
• Chettikulangara Devi Temple, Mavelikkara
• Mannarasala Temple, Harippad
• Subramanya Temple, Harippad
• Kattuvallil Dharma Sastha Temple, Mavelikkara
• Shri Dharma Sastha Temple, Sasthamcotta, Kollam
• Chakkulathukavu Temple, Thiruvalla
• Kandiyoor Mahadeva Temple, Mavelikkara
• Chunakkara Mahadeva Temple, Mavelikkara
• Chala Sree Mahadeva Temple, Mavelikkara
• Padanilam Parabrahma Temple, Padanilam
• Oachira Parabrahma Temple, Oachira,Kollam
• Thrikuratti Maha Deva Temple, Mannar
• Perumpetty Sree Mahadevar Temple, Perumpetty
• Ayroor Rameswaram Sree Mahadeva Temple [ Ayroor ]
• Ayroor Puthiyakavu Devi Temple [ Ayroor ]
• Ayroor Madam Sree Subrahmanyaswami Temple [ Ayroor ]
• Edappavoor Devi Temple [ Ayroor ]
• Putan Sabarimala Temple [ Ayroor ]
• Bhagavathikunnu Devi Temple [Elanthoor]
• Ganapathi Temple [Elanthoor]
• Sree Dharmasasthra Temple [Elanthoor]
• Sree Dharmasasthra Temple Ranni-Perunad

See also[link]

• Ayyappan
• Makara Jyothi
• Maalikapurathamma
• Pandalam
• Pathanamthitta District
• Temples of Kerala
• Aranmula Kottaram
• Sree Bhoothanaathopakhyaanam
• Padanilam

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sabarimala

• Official Website Of Sabarimala

v t e Famous Hindu temples in Kerala Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple Thiruvalla Thirunelli Varkala Guruvayur Shri Krishna Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple Ambalappuzha Shri Krishna Chottanikkara Devi Temple Chettikulangara Devi Temple Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple Vadakkum Nathan Parassinikkadavu Kottiyoor Aranmula Harippad Subrahmanya Temple Mannarassala Ettumanoor Temple

B. S. Yeddyurappa
B.S. Yeddyurappa
25th Chief Minister of Karnataka
In office 30 May, 2008 – 31 July, 2011
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	D.V.Sadananda Gowda
Constituency	Shikaripur
24th Chief Minister of Karnataka
In office November 12, 2007 – November 19, 2007
Preceded by	H. D. Kumaraswamy
Succeeded by	President's rule
Personal details
Born	(1943-02-27) 27 February 1943 (age 69) Bookanakere, Mandya
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)	Late Mythradevi
Religion	Hinduism
Website	http://yeddyurappa.in
As of May 28, 2008 Source: [1]

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (Kannada: ಬೂಕನಕೆರೆ ಸಿದ್ಧಲಿಂಗಪ್ಪ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪ, Born 27 February 1943^[1]) is an Indian politician and was the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is a popular leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and represents Shikaripura in the Karnataka legislative assembly. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka after the BJP's hisctoric victory in the 2008 Karnataka Assembly election. He is the first person from the BJP to become the Chief Minister of a South Indian state.^[2] Yeddyurappa is a popular leader of the dominant Lingayat Community and is regarded as one of the very few leaders in Karnataka with a mass following^{[citation needed]}.

Personal life[link]

Yeddyurappa was born on 27 February 1943 in a village called Bookanakere in K.R.Pet taluk of Mandya district.^[3][4] His parents were Siddalingappa and Puttathayamma. They belonged to the Lingayat community. He was named after the presiding deity of a Shaivite temple built by the great saint Siddalingeshwara at Yediyur in Tumkur district.^[5] His mother died when he was four.^[2] He completed his Pre-University College education from PES college, Mandya.

In 1965, he was appointed as a first-division clerk in the social welfare department but instead shifted to Shikaripura where he joined as a clerk at Veerabhadra Shastri's Shankar rice mill. In 1967, Yeddyurappa married Mythradevi, the daughter of the rice mill owner.^[6] He later set up a hardware shop in Shimoga. Yeddyurappa has two sons, Raghavendra and Vijayendra and three daughters, Arunadevi, Padmavati and Umadevi.^[7] In 2004, his wife died due to cardiac arrest.^[8] In 2007, he changed the spelling of his name to its current spelling from the earlier "Yediyurappa" following the advice of his astrologers.^[9]

Political career[link]

Yeddyurappa's stint in public life began when he was appointed as Karyavaha (Secretary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Shikaripur unit in 1970. In 1972, he was elected to the Shikaripura Town Municipality and was also appointed as the President of the Taluk unit of the Jana Sangh.^[7] In 1975, he was elected President of the Town Municipality of Shikaripura. He was imprisoned during the Emergency in India and lodged in the Bellary and Shimoga jails. In 1980, he was appointed President of the Shikaripura taluk unit of the BJP and later went on to become the president of BJP's Shimoga district unit in 1985. In 1988, he became the State President of the BJP in Karnataka. He was first elected to the lower house of the Karnataka Legislature in 1983 and has since represented the Shikaripura constituency six times. He has been a member of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Legislative Assemblies (lower house) of Karnataka. Following the 1994 state assembly elections, he became the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. In 1999, he lost the elections but was nominated by the BJP to become a member of the legislative council (upper house) of Karnataka.^[1] Again, He was re-elected in 2004 and became the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly during the chief ministership of Dharam Singh.

His first stint in power was when he helped Janata Dal (Secular) leader H. D. Kumaraswamy to bring down the coalition government headed by Dharam Singh and form an alternative government with BJP. An agreement was made between the JD(S) and BJP, which specified that H. D. Kumaraswamy would be the Chief Minister for the first 20 months, after which Yeddyurappa would become the Chief Minister for the remaining 20 months. Yeddyurappa became the Deputy Chief Minister as well as the finance minister in Kumaraswamy's Government. He was credited with presenting good Budgets and for initiating various welfare programs such as Bhagyalakshmi scheme, Bicycles for students, Ban on arrack and Farm loan waiver.

However in October 2007, when it was Yeddyurappa's turn to become Chief Minister, Kumaraswamy relinquish his post. This forced Yeddyurappa and all the ministers from his party to resign and on 5 October, the BJP formally withdrew the support to the Kumaraswamy government. Karnataka came under President's rule which was revoked on 7th November as the JD(S) and the BJP decided to bury their differences and this paved the way for Yeddyurappa to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka on 12 November 2007. However, JD(S) refused to support his government over disagreement on sharing of ministries which resulted in his resignation as Chief Minister on 19th November 2007.

In Karnataka's 2008 Assembly elections, Yeddyurappa contested from Shikaripura against former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa of the Samajwadi Party. The Indian National Congress and JD(S) backed Bangarappa, but despite this, Yeddyurappa won the seat by a of more than 45,000 votes. He also led the BJP to a historic victory in the state and Karnataka became the gateway for the BJP in south India. He took the oath of office as Chief Minister on 30th May 2008.^[10]

His Government undertook many developmental works and also initiated various welfare schemes. The Global Investors Meet in 2010 brought in commitments for investment of Rs. 5 Lakh Crore. He also, gave much preferance to Kannada culture and language and also conducted a successful "Vishwa Kannada Sammelana" in 2011. Yeddyurappa gave a huge boost to friendly ties with neighbouring states when he invited Tamil Nadu Chief minister Karunanidhi for unveiling the statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore followed by the unveiling of the statue of Kannada poet Sarvajna in Chennai. In December 2008, Yeddyurappa was conferred an Honorary Doctorate by Saginaw Valley State University, USA.^[11][12][13]

Although he was a popular leader, he had to face numerous revolts from with his party over his style of functioning^{[citation needed]}. He was also criticised for generously giving away huge sums of public money to religious institutions and temples, which however earned for him the support of the seers and the devout.

In November 2010, Allegations surfaced against Yeddyurappa that he had used his position as Chief Minister to favour his sons in the allotment of prime land in Bangalore.^[14] In response, on 5 February 2011, Yeddyurappa publicly declared his assets, and then challenged the opposition parties to find any "black money".^[15] However, the Karnataka Lokayukta ^[16] investigating the illegal mining case submitted its report ^[17] indicting Yeddyurappa for illegally profiteering from land deals in Bangalore and Shimoga,^[18] and also in connection with the illegal iron ore export scam in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka.^[19] Following much pressure from the BJP central leadership,^[20] he announced his decision to quit.^[21] Finally, He resigned on 31st July 2011.^[22]

Exonerated involvement in mining scam[link]

Allegations were made against him that he had used his official position to favour his sons in the allotment of land in Bangalore. One acre of land at Rachenahalli in Bangalore was purchased by his family for Rs 40 lakh (approx US$ 95,000) and was re-sold to a mining company for Rs. 20 crore ($ 4.8 million), resulting a significant profit. ^{[23][24][25][26][27][28] [29]} To refute the charges, Yeddyurappa declared his assets estimated at Rs. 11 crore ^[30] – including 2.5 kg of gold and 76 kg of silver – to show that neither he nor his family members were involved in any financial irregularities. His assets were declared to be Rs. 1.82 crore in 2008, indicating a 500 % increase in two years. ^[30][31]

Political drama continued in the State after he challenged his rival H.D.Kumaraswamy to swear in front of Lord Manjunatha at Dharmasthala over the graft issue when Kumaraswamy claimed that the Chief minister had tried to buy peace with him. Although Kumaraswamy accepted the challenge, the whole Dharmasthala show down turned out to be a flop show^{[32][33][34][35]} after Yeddyurappa backed of following the advice of his party national president, Nitin Gadkari, who was concerned with the mixing of temples with politics. ^[36]

In January 2011, two lawyers of the Karnataka High Court Sirajin Basha and K N Balraj approached the Governor seeking his permission to prosecute Chief minister Yeddyurappa and the Governor H.R. Bhardwaj sanctioned their request. ^[37]

The Lokayukta report submitted on 27 July 2011 stated that there is sufficient evidence to indict Yeddyurappa and recommended his prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act over various land deals.^[38] In addition, it also stated that there is evidence to prove that he had granted illegal mining licenses to mining companies and benefited through them. ^[39]

The Lokayuta Report caused demands from within his party for his resignation, which he initially resisted.^[20][40] However, Following the submission of the Lokayukta report, he resigned on 31st July 2011. ^[41]

After accepting the Lokayukta report, Governor Bhardwaj again approved the prosecution of Yeddyurappa ^[42] and the Karnataka High Court also allowed the police to question him. ^[43][44]

Yeddyurappa was arrested^[45] on the evening of 15th Oct 2011, hours after an arrest warrant in two cases of corruption for illegally denotifying land in and around Bangalore.^[46][47] Later, He was granted bail on 8th November 2011 after spending 23 days in jail.^[48]

However in March 2012,the High Court of Karnataka quashed the FIR registered against him regarding the Mining scam. A division bench comprising Justices Bhakstavatsala and Govindaraju passed the order stating that "Suspicion cannot be a ground to tarnish the image and reputation of a person who is holding a Constitutional post. Even during the course of argument, a specific question was put to Lokayukta counsel to produce any material to connect the petitioner for alleged offences, but he was mum and did not indicate any favours shown by Yeddyurappa as the chief minister to any mining company".^[49] In May 2012, the Supreme Court, temporarily stayed the case on this matter and ordered an official CBI enquiry, to be completed within three months.^[50]

See also[link]

• List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka
• List of politicians in India charged with corruption

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yeddyurappa's personal Website

Anil Ambani
Ambani in 2009
Born	(1959-06-04) 4 June 1959 (age 53) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	University of Mumbai The Wharton School
Occupation	Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
Net worth	$7.8 billion (2012)[1]
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse	Tina Munim
Children	3[2]
Parents	Dhirubhai Ambani Kokilaben Ambani
Relatives	Mukesh Ambani (Brother)
Website
Anil Ambani

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (Gujarati: અનીલ ધીરુભાઈ અંબાની) (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian business magnate. He is the chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother Mukesh Ambani, who heads as the chairman of Reliance Industries.^[3] The Ambani family is the richest family in India and one of the richest in the world, their wealth inherited from Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of largest Indian conglomerate Reliance Group.^[4]

He is a member of the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.^{[citation needed]} He is a member of the Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In March 2006, he resigned. He is also the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-IICT, Gandhinagar.^[5]

Career[link]

Ambani joined Reliance Industries, the company founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and is credited with having pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets.^{[citation needed]} For example, he led India's first forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and bonds. He directed Reliance in its efforts to raise, since 1991, around US$2 billion from overseas financial markets; with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997 being the high point, after which people regarded him as a financial wizard^{[citation needed]}. He along with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles, petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and telecom company.^{[citation needed][citation needed]} He is a close friend of movie star Amitabh Bachchan and Subrata Roy. One of his major achievements in the entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs, the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that owns India's only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven Spielberg.^{[citation needed]}

He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, over the supply of gas from the latter's KG basin.^{[citation needed]}

He recently topped Business Sheet's "world's biggest loser" list of business leaders who lost money in the late 2000s recession,^[6] losing $32.5 billion in 2008, which brought him out of the top ten list to number 34 in 2009.

Assassination attempt[link]

On the evening of 22 April 2009, mud, gravel and pebbles were found in the gearbox of his 13-seat helicopter VT-RCL's (a Bell 412).^[7] Despite the gearbox being located at a height of 10 feet from the ground, the gravel and pebbles were put in the filler cap in the gear box. A senior pilot of Reliance Transport and Travels Pvt. Ltd., Captain RN Joshi, filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office, Maharashtra Chief Minister's office, Maharashtra Home Minister's office, Chief Secretary's office, Joint Commissioner of Police's office and also at the Santa Cruz Police Station.^{[citation needed]}

The helicopter was standing outside a hangar at the Mumbai Airport when the sabotage was found by Bharat Borge, a technician for Air Works. Borge was found dead on April 28, 2009 on Mumbai's suburban railway tracks between Vile Parle and Andheri. A letter was also found with him. Railway Police believes that he might have been run over by the Churchgate-bound fast-local. "Borge's mysterious death created a flutter, lending credence to Anil Ambani's charge that certain 'rival business groups were trying to eliminate him'."^[8][9]

The post-mortem conducted on Bharat Borge revealed that he died of shock due to multiple fractures, resulting in brain haemorrhage.^[10] There was also a letter found in his pocket written in Marathi saying "I haven't done anything wrong. That day, some Reliance people came and spoke to me. I didn't tell them anything. One of them took my number and said that he'll talk to me later. I felt they were using me. I am writing this letter after thinking all night. It looks like the blame will be on me. I think the investigation is on the right track and truth will emerge soon."^[10]

Investigators later said that Borge's death was an accident and not suicide.^[11] Air Works, the company that maintains the helicopter, was questioning its employees in the case.^[12]

Awards and recognition[link]

• Voted the 3rd most powerful person in India in the 2009 India Today Power List, in March.^[13]
• Voted Businessman of the Year 2006 by Times of India-TNS poll^[14]
• Adjudged as the CEO of the Year at the prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards for 2004.
• Voted as 'MTV Youth Icon of the Year for 2003' in September 2003.
• Conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay Management Association, October 2002.^{[citation needed]}
• Awarded the First Wharton Indian Alumni Award by the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of Reliance as a global leader in many of its business areas, December 2001.
• Conferred the 'Businessman of the Year 1997' award by India's leading business magazine Business India, December 1997.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Anil Ambani is Gujarati Indian. He is married to Indian Bollywood Actress Tina Munim and has two sons Zahir and Jai Anshul. He has taken part in the Mumbai Marathon race. Ambani is also a fan of Premier League club, Newcastle United and was extremely close to buying the club in September 2008. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - upper house of the Parliament of India. He is a vegetarian.^[15]

English Premier League[link]

Ambani was in talks in September 2008 with Everton officials over a deal to take over the club.^[16][17]

Bibliography[link]

• Yogesh Chabria, Happionaire's Cash The Crash. CNBC - Network18. ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anil Ambani

• Profile at Reliance ADAG
• Profile at Forbes
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Anil Ambani: collected news and commentary at The Times of India

Ajay Kumar, known as Undapakru or Guinness Pakru, is a popular Malayalam comedy actor. He has made an entry into the Guinness Book of Records for being the shortest actor (2 ft 6 in (76 cm))^[1] to play a character in a full-length film. He played the lead role in Albhutha Dweep, a Malayalam movie directed by Vinayan. The movie was later dubbed in Tamil.

The film Albutha Dweep starred him as dwarf prince Gajendra of the kingdom Vamanapuri on a fantasy island, where the men were cursed to be dwarfs and women were of normal height. Around 300 dwarfs acted in that film.^[2][3]

Early/Family life[link]

He hails from Aymanam, Kerala in India. He is a BA graduate with economics and has a diploma in computer science. He started his career as a mimicry artist and later moved to films. He debuted through the children’s film Ambili Ammavan (The Moon) in 1984. He now also acts in TV serials. He married Gayatri Mohan in March 2006.^[4][5] They have a daughter.

Honours and awards[link]

He has made an entry into the Guinness Book of Records for being the shortest actor (2 ft 6 in (76 cm))[1] to play a character in a full-length film.His accomplishment is cited on the 167th page of the 2008 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. Apart from this world record, he was also presented with a Kerala State Film Award and a special Tamil Nadu State Film Award for his performance in the film Dishyum in 2006.^[6][7]

Filmography[link]

Malayalam

• Killadi Raman (2011)
• Rathinirvedam (2011)
• Venicile Vyapari (2011)
• Payyans(2011)
• Note Out (2011)
• Swantham Bharya Zindabad (2010)
• My Big Father (2010)
• Bodyguard (2010)
• Loudspeaker (2009)
• Puthiya Mukham (2009)
• Sivapuram (2009)
• Ee Pattanathil Bhootham (2009)
• Twenty:20 (2008)
• Mulla (2008)
• Athisayan (2007)
• Kilukkam Kilukilukkam (2006)
• Athbhutha Dweepu (2005)
• Meesha Madhavan (2002)
• Kunjikoonan (2002)
• Joker (2000)

Tamil

• 7aum Arivu (2011)
• Kaavalan (2011)
• Arputha Theevu (2007)
• Dishyum (2006) - Tamil Nadu State Film Award (Special Prizes)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ajaykumar at the Internet Movie Database

This article about an Indian actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e