The connection between the Ramayana serial and the Ram temple movement in Ayodhya was obvious to all those who witnessed the election of 1991. The Kumbh images are certain to lead to yet another explosion of religiosity, not least because the casual approach of Hinduism will be contrasted with the more organised thrust of other religions. The feeling is powerful enough for Sonia Gandhi to try and make political capital out of it. It is powerful enough for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to attempt a linkage between the Kumbh mela and the unfinished Ram temple agenda. We all realise that there has to be a self-imposed limit beyond which faith should not intrude into public life.
Nobody wants to create a counterpart of America's Bible belt in India.
My feeling is that, quite unintentionally, the Kumbh mela has redrawn and extended the line between faith and public life. To what extent, we will know in the next two years. He has edited Nirad Chaudhuri, The First Hundred Years .