Varanasi, the holy city that has survived concerted attempts to make it a communal hotspot, had recovered its composure. Just Tuesday evening, it had seen a terror attack on the Sankatmochan temple that killed 28 people, including the priest and participants at an ongoing wedding. Another explosion killed 10 at the nearby Varanasi cantonment railway station. Further casualties were prevented because bombs discovered at other spots were defused in time. As high-impact terrorism goes, these were clearly designed to set light to the communal tinderbox. Akshardham, Raghunath temple, Ayodhya...this had the potential to be symbolically the most potent—a strike in India’s very heartland.