Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his shock that some residents of Rajkot in his home state of Gujarat had decided to built a temple dedicated to him. In a series of tweets, Modi said that the gesture is "against India's great traditions" and he appealed to his fans to instead devote their time and resources to "fulfilling our dream of a Clean India".
However, Rajkot's residents aren't the first Indians to take their somewhat-derogatory social-media phrase "Modi bhakt" literally. Bhagwanpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district beat them to it. Even before he entered office as India’s 16th prime minister, Modi was being worshipped there, in a temple alongside Shiva.
But Modi is not the first living person to be raised to godly or saintly status in India and then sanctified with a temple. People cutting across fields like politics, cinema and sports have been bestowed with this distinction. Here is a look at the temples created for other popular personalities.
1. Sonia Gandhi
In the country’s newest state, Telangana, a temple dedicated to Sonia Gandhi was built by Congress legislators in June this year. The temple, at the Mallilal Mandal headquarters, is a gift of thanks to Gandhi for her efforts in carving out a separate state.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
Cricket is often referred to a religion in the country and Sachin Tendulkar as its god. In a village in southwestern Bihar, the otherworldly stature goes beyond encomiums. There, the batsman has a temple dedicated to him that was inaugurated last year by Bhojpuri actor-singer Manoj Tiwary. The temple boasts of a white marble 5.5-foot statue of Tendulkar and a 15,000-square-feet area, which will in future house a sports academy.
To give the Master Blaster company, Tiwary plans to instal statues of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the temple.
3. Amitabh Bachchan
As if the “angry young man” of the silver screen was not celebrated enough, some residents of Kolkata decided to honour him by building a temple to him near Ballygunge. A “Jai Amitabh Bachchan” banner greets visitors to the temple, where the actor is seen as god incarnate.
Elevated to deity status, Bachchan is propitiated with rituals every day along with aartis. The temple is adorned with paraphernalia from Bachchan’s movies, including his white shoes from Agneepath.
Two other mortals also have temples to them.
Mahatma Gandhi
A temple in Bhatra village, off the Sambalpur town in Orissa, hosts an idol of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi sitting under the Tricolour, where people of all backgrounds come to offer their respects.
MG Ramachandran
The late superstar Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran, better known as MGR, was an actor, director, producer and a three-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Over two decades after his death in 1987, a family built a temple to MGR in Nathamedu village in Thiruninravur near Chennai.
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There is a Narendra Modi temple in Gujarat, and people are flocking to it http://t.co/0Fl6D0gSLT pic.twitter.com/gnf4ycUswb
— HuffPost India (@HuffPostIndia) February 12, 2015However, Rajkot's residents aren't the first Indians to take their somewhat-derogatory social-media phrase "Modi bhakt" literally. Bhagwanpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district beat them to it. Even before he entered office as India’s 16th prime minister, Modi was being worshipped there, in a temple alongside Shiva.
The temple, which is a first for a living leader in Uttar Pradesh, has its own version of prayers called the Modi Chalisa. Its priest, according to reports, takes inspiration for his beard and clothes from the prime minister. At the temple, devotees pray for Modi’s wellbeing, hoping that the Shiva statue alongside will bless the prime minister with long life and health.
Now Modi temple in UP, @narendramodi temple with Lord Shiva at Kaushambi distt @ETVUPLIVE pic.twitter.com/U5P1mfSHaM
— Brajesh Misra (@brajeshlive) December 16, 2014But Modi is not the first living person to be raised to godly or saintly status in India and then sanctified with a temple. People cutting across fields like politics, cinema and sports have been bestowed with this distinction. Here is a look at the temples created for other popular personalities.
1. Sonia Gandhi
In the country’s newest state, Telangana, a temple dedicated to Sonia Gandhi was built by Congress legislators in June this year. The temple, at the Mallilal Mandal headquarters, is a gift of thanks to Gandhi for her efforts in carving out a separate state.
More than Rs 2.5 lakh was spent on building the temple, which has a statue of Sonia Gandhi brought from Jaipur.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
Cricket is often referred to a religion in the country and Sachin Tendulkar as its god. In a village in southwestern Bihar, the otherworldly stature goes beyond encomiums. There, the batsman has a temple dedicated to him that was inaugurated last year by Bhojpuri actor-singer Manoj Tiwary. The temple boasts of a white marble 5.5-foot statue of Tendulkar and a 15,000-square-feet area, which will in future house a sports academy.
To give the Master Blaster company, Tiwary plans to instal statues of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the temple.
3. Amitabh Bachchan
As if the “angry young man” of the silver screen was not celebrated enough, some residents of Kolkata decided to honour him by building a temple to him near Ballygunge. A “Jai Amitabh Bachchan” banner greets visitors to the temple, where the actor is seen as god incarnate.
Elevated to deity status, Bachchan is propitiated with rituals every day along with aartis. The temple is adorned with paraphernalia from Bachchan’s movies, including his white shoes from Agneepath.
Two other mortals also have temples to them.
Mahatma Gandhi
A temple in Bhatra village, off the Sambalpur town in Orissa, hosts an idol of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi sitting under the Tricolour, where people of all backgrounds come to offer their respects.
Twice a day, aartis are held at the temple and the head priest reads out Gandhi’s teachings.
MG Ramachandran
The late superstar Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran, better known as MGR, was an actor, director, producer and a three-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Over two decades after his death in 1987, a family built a temple to MGR in Nathamedu village in Thiruninravur near Chennai.
The temple witnesses various rituals and special “kumbabhishekams” there are attended by devotees from across the country.