The deity sits majestically on the throne, in his embellished attire, maintaining a steady gaze on the visitors. His votaries sing hymns in his praise, seeking his blessings to cure them of their sufferings. Temple gates open on fixed hours every day and a steady stream of devotees queue up to have a glimpse of the almighty.
But hold on, this is not the scene from just any temple in your city, it is the Sanctum Sanctorum of Amitabh Bachchan — the living legend who has attained a divinely status in the country that has adored him in all avatars.
The temple of Shahenshah of Bollywood in Kolkata is replete with cut-outs of the icon, covering virtually every aspect of his celluloid life. The shrine has a life-size idol of the superstar, placed on an ornate dark green-chair procured from the sets of Aks — A supernatural thriller released in 2001. On the idol’s feet are shoes that the megastar had worn in two flicks, Agneepath and Tufan.
The credit for constructing the superstar’s temple goes to Sanjay Patodiya, a businessman who doesn’t have qualms in saying that he worships his living god more than the statues of stone kept in the temples.
The temple to the legend was built in 2001. But how did Sanjay get the idea of giving a divine status to a living being?
The 49-year-old says that he has been the fan of the superstar since his childhood. He still fondly recollects watching Muqaddar ka Sikandar in 1978, when he was just ten years old.
“At that age, I was too small to understand anything about movies, but something hit me and the superstar left a permanent impression in my mind. Since then, I started to watch his movies and became his hardcore fan by 1980s,” says Sanjay, showing us tattoos of the superstar emblazoned on his hands and a pendant of the actor hanging from the gold chain around his neck.
Sanjay says, that when he eventually decided to turn the living legend into a God by building a temple for him, the people in his community and even his family members thought he had gone crazy.
My family was against it and they called me insane. I hardly paid any heed to their objections. I went on with my plans as my dedication towards my God was unflinching. I built the temple on the ground floor of my house.
He proudly adds that even Bollywood actors, like Diya Mirza, have visited the shrine. Moreover, Sanjay has named his children after Big B’s the son and grandson, Abhishek and Agastya.
Sanjay, along with his family, has met the superstar uncountable times in Kolkata and even in Mumbai, “We meet him every year during his birthday in Mumbai and convey our wishes, but this year we couldn’t go because he is out of Mumbai,” he says.
It is mainly because of the inspiration of his God that he does charity every year while celebrating the birthday of the star twice a year. “Apart from 11 October, we also celebrate his birthday with pomp and reverence on 2 August as latter date is considered to be the rebirth of the star after he came out of the coma and recovered from the life threatening accident that he had sustained during the shooting of Coolie on 26 July 1982,” he adds.
Like other years, aarati was performed followed by a singing of ‘Amitabh chalisa’. A lookalike of Big B had come all the way from Jamshedpur to register his presence. “I have been a big fan of the legend for the past several years. I was overwhelmed when people told me that I look like him. I decided to copy him. People respect me and click photographs with me wherever I go,” said Sahid Khan alias Amit Khan. The celebrations concluded with distributing clothes to the poor.
Sanjay's obeisance to the star doesn’t stop at celebrating his birthday, but every year he takes a trip to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu to pray for the superstar's long life. He is undoubtedly the legend’s jabra fan.
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
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