.BY ONE matter there are actually nearly 700,000 Hindu temples in India. Yet for lots of devotees it was actually the one that did certainly not exist-- a building to mark the ostensible native home of Ram, a Hindu the lord-- that mattered one of the most. On January 22nd their yearning will come to an end when Narendra Modi, the prime minister, venerates the Ram mandir, a huge holy place in the northern urban area of Ayodhya. Some 8,000 individuals will join the event, consisting of scores of officials from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Gathering (BJP) and also dignitaries coming from 55 countries. Why is actually the temple thus vital?