According to the police, the blasts occurred almost simultaneously at about 6.30 pm. The first blast took place at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple that was crowded on Tuesday, believed to be a special day for Lord Hanuman.

A similar explosion in the waiting area of the Varanasi railway station followed the temple blast. A bomb went off outside the station master's room.

The sitting Congress member of Parliament from Varanasi Rajesh Mishra called the blasts the failure of the Mulayam Singh-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Tuesday night visited the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi. Sonia and Patil saw the spot where the blast took place soon after arriving from Delhi.

The serial blasts rocked both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday as the opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party raised slogans holding the government responsible for the incidents.

Both Houses were adjourned for the day.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Lal Kishenchand Advani while condemning the Varanasi bomb blasts told mediapersons that he could not delink the events in the holy city from the anti-Bush protests and the anti- Prophet cartoon protests, which took place all over India when President George Bush visited India.

On Wednesay, Delhi Police gunned down two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists near Bawana on the outskirts of Delhi. The killings came hours after the blasts. A suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant was also shot dead in an encounter with the police in Gosaiganj area on the outskirts of Lucknow early Wednesday morning.

The blasts evoked strong condemnation from across the world, including the United States, Britain and Australia, which noted the continued danger posed by terrorism and underlined the need for collective fight against it.

As the probe into the blasts picked up momentum, official sources on Wednesday said the explosive material used in the twin blasts was ammonium nitrate and not RDX.

Pakistan-based LeT militant outfit, whose member was shot dead in an encounter with police near Lucknow on Wednesday, appeared prima facie behind the blasts, a senior Uttar Pradesh government official said.

Uttar Pradesh Police Chief Yashpal Singh told a press conference in Varanasi Friday that the blasts were caused by pressure cooker bombs and the cookers were purchased from a particular shop in the city.

Police Friday night also detained eight persons, including two whose faces resembled the sketches of suspects behind the blasts, from a market in Hardoi. The faces of two detainees identified as Sadiq and Anfar exactly resemble the sketches released by the investigating agencies in Varanasi Thursday, District Police Chief Kashinath Singh said.

Policemen and onlookers look at blood stains on the ground outside Varanasi railway station after a bomb exploded there.

Photograph: STR/AFP/Saab Pictures

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Image: Tourists stand by Varanasi