Bapu, the Mahatma Gandhi is no less than God in Salangapalayam, 25 Kms from Erode in Tamil Nadu. On Gandhi Jayanthi there is a stream of people from the neighbouring villages heading to the Mahatma Gandhi koil(temple) as it is locally known. The priest performs the arthi to a granite idol of Bapu as part of the daily puja.
A class 4 student, M.Sanghvi, studying at Appachimar Madam Government School prays at this shrine for obtaining first position in the class. Elders and senior citizens also visit the temple on special occasions. Strangely and in contrast to this Gandhi temple where any one can walk in and pray, there is a temple for Goddess Mariamman too in the vicinity where only upper caste people are allowed and not dalits.
Hey Ram! where are we leading to? Untouchability is still prevalent in Gandhi's land and he is worshipped as a God. This is a beginning. Lord Gandhi will be a god of millions in some hundred or thousand years' time like in the case of several messiahs of humanity like Lord Ram, Lord Buddha.
I was expecting this phenomenon for quite sometime now.
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