THE Madurai Meenakshi temple is not only poetry in stone (April 24) but also music in stone because one can play all the seven notes on one of the stone pillars in the temple.
It was rightly chosen one of the seven wonders in the country by NDTV. It has many mini wonders inside. If the Golden Lotus Tank reminds one of the greatness of Tamil history, the statues of 64 Nayanmars reflect Saiva spirituality.
A. Jacob Sahayam ThiruvananthapuramElection 2009THE Cover Story with election reports from various States reflected the ground realities and captured the nations mood (The Indian Open, April 24). The issue of April 10 gave the readers an insight into the real issues before the people.
Siddharth Chaturvedi LucknowTHE 15th Lok Sabha election is certainly going to defy all predictions, with a swarm of regional parties forming an alliance with the Left as the nucleus, testing the waters. Also, the Congress decision to go it alone at the national level has led to the development of new alliances and equations in U.P. and Bihar. Sharad Pawars NCP is also inching closer to the Third Front, which is a setback to the Congress. Similarly, the BJDs decision to snap ties with the BJP and join the Third Front, and Nitish Kumars quiet moves are clear indications of the current political flux.
Every party is only interested in making its manifesto more attractive than that of others by coming up with promises and offers of freebies that are difficult to keep. The people continue to be taken for a ride election after election.
K.R. Srinivasan SecunderabadKUDOS for bringing the real issues into focus during General Election 2009. But the major political parties are fighting shy of these issues as all of them are responsible for the current debacle in education, agriculture, health and other important sectors. So if these parties highlight Indias dismal record with regard to health indicators, for instance, it will be self-defeating for them.
Ankur Garg, Chandausi, U.P.THE Cover Story The lawless and the law has popped up a million-dollar question. I fully endorse the statement that the law does not limit the E.C.s power to issue a binding directive to the BJP to refrain from fielding Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit. India is a democratic nation and people have the right to voice their views, but what was the necessity for Varun Gandhi to make such an inflammatory speech when the whole nation is trying hard to maintain unity of all faiths in the context of increasing terrorist activities? In this situation, an attempt to divide the country with such speeches would do immense damage to its secular fabric.
Vinod C. Dixit AhmedabadTHE people of Uttar Pradesh are bored with the same manifesto promises presented by parties in every election. The parties should be more innovative. Now people vote on the basis of the parties performance while in power. The parties try their best to win peoples support only during elections.
Ashish K. Choudhary RANCHIDalitsTHE story of continuing untouchability in Tamil Nadu is disturbing (Cracks in the wall, April 24). The photograph of a graveyard within the premises of a Dalits house was a sad revelation of the caste prejudices in Tamil society.
The author has aptly credited the CPI(M) and the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front with some useful interventions to secure the rights and privileges of Dalits. But the irony is that much of the print and electronic media and the articulate sections of the intelligentsia say that such movements disturb the otherwise peaceful social environments. The champions of status quo thus contribute to polluting young minds.
S.V. Venugopalan ChennaiMeenakshi templeTHANK YOU for the article on the newly renovated Madurai Meenakshi temple. Your readers would have been better served by a schematic diagram showing the layout of the temple.
While the authorities in charge of the restoration have taken a lot of pains to do the right thing, it boggles the mind to see that they have cemented the temple tank. Apart from being an integral aesthetic feature of any large South Indian temple, these artificial ponds help in harvesting rainwater. They ensure that the aquifers in the area do not run dry.
Vijay Venkataraman Cambridge, MassachusettsANNOUNCEMENT Letters, whether by surface mail or e-mail, must carry the full postal address and the full name, or the name with initials.
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