10 Lead essay: sundar sarukkai on hope, wishful prayer and our contract with ‘bounded rationality’ 18 the holy motions dilip padgaonkar on pilgrimages, their unchanged nature, and new forms 24 jodhpur Ishqiya Ganesh mandir is a magnet for lovers 28 srikalahasti Rahu-ketu issues Kalahasteeshwara temple awaits 32 ganagapur For the ‘possessed’, the nirgun paduka temple is solace 36 sunderbans The Bon Bibi goddess looks the tiger in the eye 38 ajmer sharif Mannat at Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti’s tomb 42 maihar ma sharada temple, the guru’s own goddess of learning 46 shirdi sai samadhi and miracles 48 vallarpadam Looking out for the islanders, vallarpadathamma 50 barabanki dewa dargah 56 bambolim Fulancho khuris, the cross of the flowers 60 udvada iran shah atash behram temple, sacred to the Parsis 64 rich wishlist Stardust in Havan 68 celeb shrines Idols Worship 72 blessed grounds Wish towns list 74 interview Diana L. Ec k, Professor of Comparative Religion, Harvard 76 column mukul sharma on our besieged gods