.BY ONE COUNT there are actually almost 700,000 Hindu temples in India. But for a lot of devotees it was actually the one that did certainly not exist– a building to note the ostensible place of origin of Ram, a Hindu god– that mattered the most. On January 22nd their yearning are going to relate to an end when Narendra Modi, the head of state, anoints the Ram mandir, a splendid holy place in the north area of Ayodhya.
Some 8,000 people are going to participate in the service, consisting of scores of representatives from Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Gathering (BJP) and person of influences coming from 55 countries. Why is the holy place thus significant?