20-22 Nov

ON THE threshold of "Visit India Year", the Taj Mahal, the most popular monument in the country, and far and away the biggest magnet for foreign tourists, may be forced to close.

In the latticework of alleys behind Varanasi's burning ghats, Rhiannon Batten meets a tailor who became a superstar

IF DR Surendra Jain had been around at the time, Mother Teresa would never have got started in India.

Driving through Madhya Pradesh in an Ambassador has its ups and downs, but the sights en route make it all worth it. By Mark Swallow

INDIA'S MOST contentious building project, the temple to Ram which Hindu nationalists want to erect on the god's alleged birthplace, has been secretly under construction for the past seven years, India was stunned to discover last week. The architect is the man responsible for the huge Hindu temple, the Swaminarayan, in Neasden, north London.

AB Vajpayee, parliamentary leader of the Hindu nationalist BJP, should by now be packing his bags ready for removal to 7 Race Course Road, the prime minister's official residence. Instead he is twisting in the wind.

WITH most results from India's general election declared, the nation is once again confronted by monumental uncertainty, from which only criminals and opportunists will profit.

SONIA GANDHI'S epic 30,000-mile campaign has saved her party, Congress, from disappearing down the electoral plughole, but the Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies have established themselves as the pre- eminent force in Indian politics.

Hindu party

On the first day of the elections, Peter Popham takes to the road

The decline of Congress has paved the way for Hindu nationalists, finds Peter Popham - unless the Gandhi name can work its magic

TWO DAYS before polling begins in the world's biggest election, there is little doubt about the most important issue - and it is nothing to do with policies. It is the infestation of Indian politics by criminals.

Attia Hosain, writer: born Lucknow, India 20 October 1913; married Ali Bahadur Habibullah (one son, one daughter); died London 23 January 1998.