By Sunday, the work was near enough completion that I felt able to take the day off. With Joanna Hoffmann, and a scientist with whom she has been working, I went to the Aksherdam temple. I was a bit reluctant, but it turned out to be one of the most extraordinary things I’ve seen on this trip, a nexus of religion, art, politics, money and crime that encapsulates a lot of contemporary India. It’s vast, and only just completed. They claim 13 million man hours labour, and since nearly every square inch is hand carved, you can believe it. The central temple is supported on a plinth, around which there are 148 elephants carved at about half life size, illustrating various stories. There are illuminated fountains, bigger and better than anything in Las Vegas, and there are funfair style rides! One boasted “10,000 years of Indian Culture in 10 minutes”, an irresistible invitation to a philistine like me. It was a boat ride, through an enormous darkened building, past beautifully crafted tableaux illustrating the glories of Vedic culture. This place is Hindu Disneyland. And just like Disneyland, there are some rather dodgy subtexts. A group of ancient Vedic scientists and engineers were shown constructing primitive aeroplanes and spaceships, which would be funny if it wasn’t for India’s dick-waving stance on nuclear weapons. And I’m sorry, but I haven’t been able to find any confirmation of the bold assertion that Vedic scientists invented pi and atomic physics.
The money behind it comes from Gujarat, I was told, and building temples is apparently a classic way of laundering money and buying influence. It’s been built without permission on land next to the Yamuna River, and court actions are in progress. But the chance of anyone who wants to stay in public office ordering it to be knocked down is less than zero. This is a country where ministers were in trouble a couple of weeks ago, for stating that the Ramayana (a story involving monkey gods and demons) was a work of fiction.
