Jul 27, 2006 :: The Banaras Bounce

In an stirring piece in the Hindu, Vidya Subramaniam details how Varanasi coped with terrorist bombing of the Sankat Mochan Temple in March this year. The hero clearly is the Mahant of the temple, Veer Bhadra Mishra who is also a professor of engineering. Within hours of the attack, he had the temple cleansed, shooed away hysterical reactionaries, calmed nerves and held the arati on schedule.

Muslims cowering in fear of retribution, responded to Hindu restraint with collective condemnation of terrorism. The Mufti of the Gyanvapi Mosque arrived at the temple and received Ganga Jal in an act of togetherness. Burqa clad women chanted the Hanuman Chalisa. Far from the expected discord between the two communities, a euphoric amity prevails in Varanasi. This is a must read classic.