The northern Indian city of Varanasi yesterday showcased its standing as one of the country?s most vibrant pilgrimage centres, two days after bomb blasts killed 15 people and triggered protests.

Markets across the Hindu holy city opened, streets bustled with traffic and tourists, Indian and foreign, returned to the ancient bathing ghats and temples by the holy Ganges river a day after Hindu groups shut the city in protests.

Investigators said suspicion was growing that the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible for Tuesday?s blasts.

Police said they would continue to mount vigils to prevent a communal backlash although, they added, that appeared unlikely.

?Violence occurs when there is anger?, said Mahendra Tanna, a Varanasi businessman. ?The blasts at the temple did not anger us but made us sad. Which is why there have been no riots?.

?How can we associate all this with Muslims? All Muslims are not bad and all Hindus are not good?, said Tanna, a Hindu.

<B>Islamist militant group suspected</B>

The first bomb went off in the packed, centuries-old Sankat Mochan temple where hundreds of devotees of the Hindu monkey-god Hanuman had gathered for prayers and three weddings.

Another bomb then exploded at the city?s main railway station. Police said both bombs were home-made devices placed in pressure cookers and connected to timers.

They said they were working on sketches of suspects based on a video shot at one of the weddings at the temple.

Analysts and intelligence officers said that although the Hindu community was targeted by suspected Islamist militants, they did not expect trouble because most Indians were weary of violence and increasingly resilient.

Besides, political groups had largely refrained from stoking tensions and Varanasi?s Muslims had condemned the blasts and joined Hindus in the general strike on Wednesday, avoiding a confrontation, they said.

?We are grateful to the people that they have not allowed this situation to take a communal turn?, said Yashpal Singh, police chief of Uttar Pradesh state where Varanasi is located.

?It is thanks also to the political parties as none of them tried to give this political colour?, Singh told Reuters.

A senior Lashkar militant killed by police in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh?s capital, hours after the blasts was likely linked to the attack, investigators said.

?We are zeroing in on a Lashkar hand and there definitely seems to have been a link between the terrorist killed in Lucknow and the bombs here?, said Navneet Sikera, Varanasi?s police chief.

<B>No deity damaged</B>

Lashkar, which is outlawed in Pakistan, has been blamed for several violent attacks across India in the past, including one on another Hindu holy site in Uttar Pradesh last year.

Temple-studded Varanasi, 670 km (420 miles) southeast of New Delhi, is one of India?s most ancient cities and is very popular with foreign tourists interested in Hinduism.

Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi, being cremated on the banks of the Ganges and the ashes immersed in the river ensures release from the cycle of rebirth. Many elderly and ill people come here if they believe they are close to death.

Abhay Pratap Singh, who owns a small hotel in Varanasi, said the city was calm despite the blasts also because the bombs did not damage the temple.

?Nothing happened to the Hanuman deity which is highly revered by the people here?, said Singh. ?Some people tried to spread rumours that the temple and deity were damaged but we actually went there and found out everything was fine.?

<B>Sharat Pradhan</B>

INDIA THREATENEDSTATION.

<B>Kashmiri group claims India holy city blasts</B>

■ A little-known Kashmiri militant group claimed responsibility yesterday for the bomb blasts that killed 15 people this week in a north Indian Hindu holy city. Tuesday?s blasts in Varanasi, one at an ancient Hindu temple and another at a train station, also wounded dozens and sparked fears of sectarian strife involving the country?s majority Hindus and minority but large Muslim population.

?Lashkar-e-Kahar takes responsibility for the blasts?, Abdullah Jabbar, the group?s spokesman, told a local news agency by telephone. ?If India does not stop excesses in Kashmir, we will carry out more such attacks across India.?