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Shy schoolboy Vaibhav Suryavanshi is in dreamland at just 14, having become the youngest player in Indian Premier League history and marking the occasion with an audacious first-ball six.The fearless young left-hander is being touted as a superstar in the making after his instant impact opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, when he scored 34 off 20 balls in Jaipur including three sixes and two fours.He finished on the losing side but stole the limelight as, at 14 years and 23 days old, he made his debut for Rajasthan after being bought for $130,500 in November’s player’s auction when he was still only 13.An explosive free-scoring batsman, who can also bowl spin, Suryavanshi comes from India’s poorest state, Bihar, and his father is a farmer and part-time journalist, according to Indian media.The teenager’s rise has been swift.He made his domestic debut aged 12 in the Ranji Trophy in January 2024, then was selected for India’s under-19 squad against a touring Australia team.He promptly hit a 58-ball century — the second fastest ton in youth Tests after England’s Moeen Ali in 2005.But it was the bidding war at the IPL player auction later that year that catapulted the youngster into global headlines.Now he finds himself among the cricketing elite in the world’s most popular and lucrative T20 tournament and has been lauded by former players after his first show.Former England captain Michael Vaughan tagged a clip of Suryavanshi hitting his first ball for six off seasoned India seamer Shardul Thakur and wrote on X: “This is incredible.””He is 14 but has the mind of a 30-year-old,” former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said. “Vaibhav Suryavanshi looked confident against bowlers who have been bowling for years.”Former India batsman Suresh Raina said: “He will rule cricket in the future. Vaibhav Suryavanshi will show what he is capable of.”- Bidding war -Rajasthan coach and India great Rahul Dravid was impressed by the youngster in trials before the auction, saying that Suryavanshi had “some really good skills”.His father, Sanjeev, expressed astonishment after what happened in the auction.”I am speechless… I don’t know what to say. It’s a massive thing for our family,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express newspaper.”I had a gut feeling that he would get picked, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that there would be a bidding war.”He believes his son is at the right team to realise his potential.”Over the years Royals have groomed the youngsters. Be it Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel or Riyan Parag, all are products of the Rajasthan Royals franchise,” said Sanjeev.”I sincerely hope that Vaibhav will also follow the same path.”His state coach, Pramod Kumar, described him as a quiet boy who loves his cricket.”He is the kind of player who has come on Earth to play cricket, he settles for nothing else,” Kumar told The Times of India newspaper.”He hardly talks, but ask him about cricket and he can go on day and night.”Born on March 27, 2011, Suryavanshi is the first IPL cricketer born after the tournament’s inception in 2008.Prayas Ray Barman was the previous youngest IPL player. He was 16 years and 157 days in 2019 when he made his debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019. 

Vaibhav Suryavanshi made an explosive 34 off 20 balls as he became the youngest player in IPL history aged just 14 on Saturday but finished on the losing side as Lucknow Super Giants beat Rajasthan Royals by two runs.In the first match of the day, England’s Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 97 to power Gujarat Titans to the top of the IPL table with a seven-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad’s intense heat.But it was the evening game that drew eyeballs after Rajasthan turned to Suryavanshi as their impact substitute and he opened the batting alongside India star Yashasvi Jaiswal following Lucknow’s 180-5.Suryavanshi stole the limelight after belting his first ball for six in a much-awaited debut after he was bought for $130,500 in the November auction when he was still just 13.Jaiswal and Suryavanshi, who hit three sixes and two fours in an electrifying knock, put on 85 for the first wicket before the youngster was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the bowling of South Africa international Aiden Markram. Stand-in captain Riyan Parag came in and made 39 but Rajasthan lost their way as he departed shortly after Jaiswal fell for 74.Avesh Khan dismissed both in the 18th over to turn the match on its head and Rajasthan finished on 178-5 after the Lucknow fast bowler defended nine off the last over to pull off a stunning victory for his team in Jaipur.”These kind of matches build character,” Lucknow skipper Pant said after his team moved up to fourth in the 10-team table. “It was an amazing win. As a team, this is going to take us to a different level.”- ‘Boss Baby’ -Shimron Hetmyer scored 12 before he fell to Avesh on the third ball of the 20th over and despite David Miller dropping a catch in the deep, Avesh held his nerve with his yorkers and disciplined bowling to return figures of 3-37.Avesh’s heroics took some of the attention away from Suryavanshi, who was handed his chance after Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson was ruled out due to injury.He was added as an impact player for the match and then replaced medium-pace bowler Sandeep Sharma in the chase.The baby-faced Suryavanshi, called “Boss Baby” — a popular animated film — by the TV commentators, impressed in batting with Jaiswal, who recorded his third straight half-century, but their efforts ultimately came in a losing cause.Earlier, Markram’s 66 and a 50 by impact player Ayush Badoni helped Lucknow set a target of 181 after they elected to bat first.- Heat and pressure -In the afternoon match, Gujarat rode on Buttler’s 54-ball knock laced with 11 fours and four sixes to achieve their target of 204 with four balls to spare at the world’s biggest cricket stadium.Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler and impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a left-hand West Indies batter who hit 43, put on a key stand of 119 to steer Gujarat to their fifth win in seven matches and top of the standingsRutherford fell in the 19th over. Delhi’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc needed to defend 10 off the final six balls but the left-handed Rahul Tewatia finished off with a six and four.Buttler, who hit his third half-century of the season, was left three short of a hundred that would have put him level with Virat Kohli’s record eight IPL tons.Gujarat, who won the IPL in their debut season in 2022, elected to field first on a hot afternoon as the temperature soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).”I think it (heat) takes you by the surprise how draining it is,” said player of the match Buttler.”I certainly felt that while batting, cramping up and stuff. But that’s part of the game to be fit and be able to perform under pressure in the heat.”Delhi reached 203-8 but the total could have been more had it not been for four wickets by Gujarat pace bowler Prasidh Krishna, who now leads this season’s bowling chart with 14 scalps.

Indian batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi on Saturday made history as the youngest ever IPL player at 14 years old after Rajasthan Royals brought him in as their impact substitute against Lucknow Super Giants.Suryavanshi, a left-hand batsman, earned a deal in the lucrative T20 tournament after Rajasthan bought him for $130,500 in the November auction when he was still aged just 13.At 14 years and 23 days, Suryavanshi easily beat the previous record for the IPL’s youngest debutant held by Prayas Ray Barman, who was 16 years and 157 days old when he played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019.Suryavanshi was added as an impact player for the match at Rajasthan’s home in Jaipur after skipper Sanju Samson was ruled out due to injury.The teenager then came out to open the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rajasthan sought to chase down 181, replacing medium-pace bowler Sandeep Sharma.He comes from India’s poorest state, Bihar, and his father is a farmer and part-time journalist, according to Indian media.Suryavanshi is an explosive batter and rose to prominence with a 58-ball century in an Under-19 Test against Australia — the second fastest ton in youth Tests after England’s Moeen Ali, who hit 100 in 56 balls in 2005.Suryavanshi made his domestic Ranji debut aged 12 in January last year.Rajasthan coach Rahul Dravid was impressed by his trial in the net session prior to the auction and later said the kid has got “some really good skills”.

Afghanistan’s prime minister condemned on Saturday the “unilateral measures” taken by Pakistan to forcibly deport tens of thousands of Afghans since the start of April.Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of the month more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Pakistan’s top diplomat Ishaq Dar flew to Kabul for a day-long visit on Saturday where he held discussions with Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.”Rather than collaborating with the Islamic Emirate on the gradual repatriation process, Pakistan’s unilateral measures are intensifying the problem and hindering progress toward a solution,” Akhund said during his meeting with Dar.He urged the Pakistani government to “facilitate the dignified return of Afghan refugees”, according to a statement on X.Earlier, foreign minister Muttaqi “expressed his deep concern and disappointment over the situation and forced deportation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan”, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad said on X.Ahmad added that Dar had reassured officials that Afghans “will not be mistreated”.- ‘No leniency’ -Afghans in Pakistan have reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities.Islamabad has said nearly 85,000 have already crossed into Afghanistan, with convoys of Afghan families heading to border crossings each day fearing raids, arrests or separation from family members.On Friday, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference that “there will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline”.The relationship between the two neighbours has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared following the return of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2021.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.- Second phase of deportations -Chaudhry said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented. More than half of them were children, according to the United Nations refugee agency.The women and girls among those crossing were entering a country where they are banned from education beyond secondary school and barred from many sectors of work.Afghanistan’s refugees ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday the Taliban authorities had recorded some 71,000 Afghan returnees through the two main border points with Pakistan between April 1 and 18.In the first phase of returns in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks.In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned thousands more awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.The move to expel Afghans is widely supported by Pakistanis.”They are totally disrespectful towards our country. They have abused us, they have used us. One can’t live in a country if they don’t respect it,” said Ahmad Waleed, standing in his shop on Friday in Rawalpindi, near the capital.

Afghanistan’s foreign minister expressed “deep concern and disappointment” to his Pakistani counterpart on Saturday over the forced deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans since the start of April.Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of the month more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Pakistan’s top diplomat Ishaq Dar flew to Kabul for a day-long visit on Saturday where he held discussions with Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.”Muttaqi expressed his deep concern and disappointment over the situation and forced deportation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan,” the Afghan foreign ministry’s deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad said on X. “He strongly urged Pakistani authorities to prevent the suppression of the rights of Afghans living there and those coming here.”Ahmad added that Dar reassured officials that Afghans “will not be mistreated”.Afghans in Pakistan have reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities as they ramp up their campaign to expel migrants. Islamabad has said nearly 85,000 have already crossed into Afghanistan, with convoys of Afghan families heading to border crossings each day fearing raids, arrests or separation from family members.On Friday, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference that “there will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline”.”When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.Analysts, however, say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government over escalating security concerns.The relationship between the two neighbours has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared, following the return of the Taliban government in Kabul in 2021.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.- Second phase of deportations -Chaudhry said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented. More than half of them were children, according to the United Nations refugee agency, entering a country where girls and women are banned from education after secondary school and barred from many sectors of work.Afghanistan’s refugees ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday the Taliban authorities had recorded some 71,000 Afghan returnees through the two main border points with Pakistan between April 1 and 18.In the first phase of returns in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks.In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned thousands more awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades to flee successive wars, but tensions with the Afghan community have risen as Pakistan’s economic and security concerns have deepened.The move to expel Afghans is widely supported by Pakistanis.”They are totally disrespectful towards our country. They have abused us, they have used us. One can’t live in a country if they don’t respect it,” said Ahmad Waleed, standing in his shop on Friday in Rawalpindi, near the capital.

A mob beat to death a member of Pakistan’s persecuted Ahmadiyya minority on Friday after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi, police said.A mob, many from the anti-blasphemy political group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), stormed through narrow streets of Saddar neighbourhood chanting slogans, enraged that Ahmadis were allegedly offering Friday prayers.”One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi. They attacked him with sticks and bricks,” Muhammad Safdar, a senior local police official in the port city of Karachi where the incident happened.”The mob included members of several religious parties,” he told AFP.Safdar said police took around 25 Ahmadis into custody for their safety.An AFP journalist at the scene saw a prison van escorted by police vehicles take the Ahmadi men away, after negotiating with the 600-strong chanting mob.The Ahmadiyya community are considered heretics by the Pakistani government and have been persecuted for decades, but threats and intimidation have intensified in recent years.A local resident among the crowd Abdul Qadir Ashrafi told AFP he joined the mob to pressure police to arrest the Ahmadis.”We requested that the place be sealed and that those conducting the Friday prayers be arrested, with criminal proceedings initiated against them,” Abdul Qadir Ashrafi, a 52-year-old businessman said.The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “appalled by the orchestrated attack by a far-right religious party on a colonial-era Ahmadi place of worship”.”This failure of law and order is a stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community,” it said on X.- Deadly mob violence -Ahmadis, who number around 10 million worldwide, consider themselves Muslims, and their faith is identical to mainstream Islam in almost every way, but their belief in another messiah has marked them blasphemous non-believers.Pakistan’s constitution has branded them non-Muslims since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic.Unlike in other countries, they cannot refer to their places of worship as mosques, make the call to prayer, or travel on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.Hardline TLP supporters regularly monitor Ahmadi places of worship and file police complaints against them for identifying as Muslims and conducting prayers in a manner similar to Islamic practices — illegal in Pakistan.According to a tally kept by the community, six Ahmadis were killed in 2024, and more than 280 since 1984.In the same period, more than 4,100 Ahmadis have faced criminal charges including 335 under blasphemy laws which carry the death penalty.Mob violence is common in Pakistan, where blasphemy is an incendiary issue that carries the death penalty.Dozens of churches were ransacked in the city of Jaranwala in 2023 when clerics used mosque loudspeakers to claim that a Christian man had committed blasphemy, sparking a crowd of hundreds of Muslim rioters.Last August, the Supreme Court was pressured into backtracking on a landmark ruling that would have allowed Ahmadis to practice their faith as long as they do not use Muslim terms, after weeks of protests by fundamentalist groups including death threats to the chief justice. 

Pakistan’s foreign minister arrived Saturday in Afghanistan to meet Taliban officials after his country expelled more than 85,000 Afghans, mostly children, in just over two weeks.Islamabad has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of April more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Convoys of Afghan families have been heading to border crossings each day fearing raids, arrests or being separated from family members. Pakistan’s foreign office said its top diplomat, Ishaq Dar, along with his delegation of ministers, will hold meetings during the one-day visit with senior Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund. Dar was greeted warmly off the plane in the Afghan capital by the foreign ministry’s deputy minister for financial and administrative affairs, Mohammad Naeem, according to a video shared by Pakistan’s foreign office. “There will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline,” Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference on Friday.”When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.He has previously accused Afghans of being “terrorists and criminals”, but analysts say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government over escalating security concerns.Chaudhry said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented. The United Nations’ refugee agency said on Friday more then half of them were children — entering a country where girls are banned from secondary school and university and women are barred from many sectors of work.On Saturday, Afghanistan’s refugees ministry spokesman told AFP the Taliban authorities had recorded some 71,000 Afghan returnees through the two main border points with Pakistan between April 1 and 18.- Second phase of deportations -The United Nations says nearly three million Afghans have taken shelter in Pakistan after fleeing successive conflicts.Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognised the Taliban’s first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces.But their relationship has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.In the first phase of returns in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks. In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans, warning those in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave Islamabad and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Scores of penitents whipped themselves bloody under a scorching Philippine sun while others were nailed to crosses in a polarising Good Friday tradition drawing the most extreme of Catholic devotees.The macabre spectacle, officially frowned on by the Church, attracts thousands of Filipinos — and a smattering of tourists — each Easter weekend to sites across Asia’s only majority Catholic nation.In Pampanga province, two hours north of Manila, 64-year-old Ruben Enaje was nailed to a cross for the 36th time on Friday.Minutes after the nails were gingerly removed from his palms, he told reporters it would be for the last time.”I really can’t do it anymore. They had to aim portable fans at me earlier just for me to breathe normally,” Enaje said, after temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit).In an unscripted moment, Enaje had tumbled down an embankment while navigating the narrow path to the cross after being “pushed a bit harder than usual” by a man playing a Roman soldier.He told reporters he had felt “dizzy” while walking to the venue, needing to rest for 30 minutes before reaching the site.He has hinted at retirement in the past, and this year local officials finally introduced his successor: Arnold Maniago, a veteran of 24 crucifixions.Maniago conceded he was “a little nervous” about taking on the role of Jesus.- More than penance -Among the procession, men with their faces covered by bandanas rhythmically whipped themselves as they walked towards the cross.But the flails, tipped with bamboo shards, rarely produce the desired blood.An older man showed AFP a small wooden paddle embedded with sharp glass he used on the backs of penitents to make it flow.Children trailed many of the processions.A boy no more than eight years old lightly flailed the back of a shirtless man lying in the road.Mark Palma, whose back was raw and smeared with blood, said flagellation was more than an act of penance.The 30-year-old told AFP he had spent half his life taking part in the flagellation ritual as a way of praying for his sister born with a heart defect.”She’ll be going through an operation this year, she has a hole in her heart,” he said.”I’m praying for her to be healed. I want the operation to be successful.”Raymond Ducusin, 31, said he began taking part in 2022 when his parents developed health issues.Though his father passed away, he had no plans to stop.”I want to commemorate his legacy through this. I still believe in miracles,” Ducusin said.Officials said about 10,000 people attended Good Friday events in Pampanga.More than 50 foreign tourists who had purchased special passes viewed the proceedings from under a tent.David, a 45-year-old from New York City, said he and his partner had planned their holiday to attend the crucifixions.”To see something born at the community level that’s still vibrant… most religious affiliation and sentiment in the West is pretty much fading away and here, it’s still incredibly visceral,” he said.

Pakistan’s foreign minister was due to visit Afghanistan on Saturday after his country expelled more than 85,000 Afghans, mostly children, in just over two weeks.Islamabad has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of April more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled — including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Convoys of Afghan families have been heading to border towns each day fearing the “humiliation” of raids, arrests or being separated from family members.Pakistan’s foreign office said its top diplomat Ishaq Dar will hold meetings with senior Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund during a day-long visit.”There will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline,” Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference on Friday.”When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.Chaudhry has previously accused Afghans of being “terrorists and criminals”, but analysts say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government over escalating security concerns.He said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented.The United Nations’ refugee agency said on Friday more then half of them were children — entering a country where girls are banned from secondary school and university and women are barred from many sectors of work.- Second phase of deportations -The United Nations says nearly three million Afghans have taken shelter in Paksitan after fleeing successive conflicts.Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognised the Taliban’s first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces.But their relationship has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.In the first phase of deportations in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks. In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans, warning those in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave Islamabad and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims thronged Sri Lanka’s holy city of Kandy on Friday at the start of a rare display of a prized Buddhist relic, triggering traffic chaos and public protests.Devotees who had camped overnight outside the Temple of the Tooth complained that they were confined to a holding area after security checks and were deprived of food and water for hours.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake officially launched the exposition by offering flowers to what Buddhists in Sri Lanka believe to be the left canine tooth of the Buddha.Dissanayake’s office said he was accompanied by Colombo-based diplomats invited as guests to the 16th-century temple shortly before the exhibition opened to the public.Police rushed to prevent a stampede as the gates opened to allow pilgrims to walk past the relic displayed inside the temple.Several older people fainted and were assisted by bystanders.An AFP photographer saw one man stretched out on a bench, a small child fanning him with a bunch of papers while police looked on.”Let us out… We are suffering here. We don’t want to see the relic, please let us go,” one man shouted from inside the holding area as police attempted to confine the crowd within a fenced enclosure.A woman also pleaded to be let out of the holding area so she could return home. “We came out of devotion, but the promised food and water were not provided,” she shouted.- Long queues -Queues from three directions outside the temple compound stretched almost two kilometres (1.2 miles), with tens of thousands of devotees trying to get a glimpse of the relic.Police had estimated that about 200,000 people would visit Kandy daily during the 10-day display but local officials said they had underestimated the crowd badly.The main roads leading to Kandy, 115 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of Colombo, were blocked for long periods despite special traffic arrangements and parking areas reserved for pilgrims.Around 10,000 police officers have been deployed and armed troops reinforced security at the temple, which was targeted by Tamil separatists in a 1998 suicide attack that killed 16 people.Classes in Kandy have been cancelled, with schools repurposed to house the large number of security personnel sent to the city.More than a million people were estimated to have visited the UNESCO-designated temple when the tooth relic was last displayed in March 2009.The 1998 bombing of the temple destroyed walls and windows, in the process revealing 18th-century murals that had been plastered over several times through the site’s history.A section of the exposed murals is displayed in the temple’s tightly guarded museum, which says they date back to between 1707 and 1739 — a period when Kandy was the seat of the monarchy that ruled the island.