.BY ONE COUNT there are actually almost 700,000 Hindu temples in India. Yet for several fans it was actually the one that did not exist– a building to note the ostensible native home of Ram, a Hindu god– that mattered the most. On January 22nd their yearning will involve an end when Narendra Modi, the head of state, consecrates the Ram mandir, a marvelous holy place in the north city of Ayodhya.
Some 8,000 people will join the event, including scores of officials coming from Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Event (BJP) and also very important people from 55 countries. Why is the temple so necessary?