Day 1,667: elucidation, consecration, preside, apace
“Politics and religion cannot be mixed,” ruled India’s Supreme Court in 1994 in what was then considered a decisive elucidation of the country’s secular constitution. Tell that to the millions who on January 22nd will watch Narendra Modi preside over the consecration of a controversial $220m Hindu temple, in a ceremony that marks the informal launch of his campaign for a third term as prime minister in elections to be held by May.
Even as Mr Modi appears at the temple in Ayodhya in northern India, the other pillar of his mission continues apace: India’s extraordinary modernisation.
Artwork of the day
The Consecrated One
Ferdinand HodlerDate:1903Style:Art Nouveau (Modern), SymbolismGenre:symbolic paintingLocation:Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Word of the day
elucidation: the act of explaining something or making something clear:
consecration: the act or process of officially making something holy and able to be used for religious ceremonies:
preside: to be in charge of a formal meeting, ceremony, or trial:
apace: quickly:
Quote of the day
“The story itself, the true story, is the one that the audience members create in their minds, guided and shaped by my text, but then transformed, elucidated, expanded, edited, and clarified by their own experience, their own desires, their own hopes and fears.”
― Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game