From potters to websites, Ram temple frenzy goes beyond street buzz

In a different realm altogether, Gita Press, the world's largest publisher of religious texts, has allowed free downloads of the Ramcharitmanas on its website

Laal Chand is not happy with the weather gods. The biting, damp, and hazy winter in north India is coming in the way of what he is trying to do in the runup to the Ram temple’s consecration in Ayodhya, slated for Monday.

“There is no proper sunlight these days. We can’t put our hands in the cold clay,” he says.

That is a real problem for Chand and his brethren in the potter community of Uttar Nagar Kumhar Colony in Delhi. The pottery market saw a spurt in demand for diyas, or earthen lamps, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi