By Arun Kumar

Washington, Dec 14 (IANS) US President Barack Obama's decision to skip a planned visit to the Golden Temple during his India trip has been listed ninth among Time magazine's 'Top 10 Religion Stories'.

Explaining why it put "Obama Decides Not to Visit the Golden Temple" on the list, the US magazine wrote: "The Golden Temple in Amritsar is the centre of the Sikh religion and, at one point in the planning of the US President's November trip to India, it had been viewed a likely place for Obama to visit."

"However, American politics may have gotten in the way," it said noting, "Though the White House has not acknowledged it, the requirement that men cover their heads when they enter the Golden Temple may have scotched the visit.

"In the US, Sikhs are very often mistaken for Muslims - and, when Islamophobia enters, unhappy consequences ensue," the Time said.

"That was probably one factor too many for an American politician already burdened with false but unstanchable scuttlebutt that he is a secret Muslim," it added.