And you thought India was poor!

Please watch the images cycle through

These are pictures of a temple dedicated to Mahalakshmi - the goddess of wealth (sic!). It is call Sripuram and is made of more than a ton of pure gold which will glitter and gleam under the bright sun of Malaikodi, about 6 km from Vellore in north Tamil Nadu. On August 24 it will be consecrated by the Sri Narayani Peetam (a "godly" organization) headed by a 31-year-old godman who calls himself Narayani Amma. Devotees call the temple 'one of the wonders of the world'. More than 400 gold and coppersmiths from the Thirupath Thirumala Devasthanam are said to have worked for six years to craft the Rs 600-crore gold temple located on 55,000 sq ft of land on a 100-acre plot. According to official sources, the gold bars were purchased through the Reserve Bank of India in 'a transparent manner.' (Read: not through the "black market", er Thank God)

This is a good example of how "God-men" are completely scamming poor people in India (and elsewhere in the world too). The problem is that in India a lot of poor people give up their life savings or even borrow money to give to this.

The maid who washes the dishes for us is apparently unable to conceive. So she and her husband are going to pay a "God-man" Rs. 5,000 (about $120), which is 10 times her monthly pay (her husband mercifully works and does not drink - a rarity). She refuses to go to a doctor, despite my wife's repeated attempts to take her.

If this couple lived in America, they would no doubt have voted for Bush (no I am not a Democrat, I am an Independent).