Ahmedabad: Love him, worship him or hate him, Gujarat's larger than life Chief Minister, Narendra Modi cannot be ignored, so much so that there is in fact, a small temple dedicated to him.
The temple, which was built around two years ago at the entrance to Bhojpara village in Rajkot district, has a full-length photograph of Modi, which is worshipped by the 'devotees' there.
The small temple was built by 110 families of snake charmers who had been living a nomadic life in that area of Saurashtra.
"We were living in tents on the outskirts of Bhojpara two years ago, where Modi's government allocated land to us and we have now got our own houses," Nathusing, a community elder, told a Gujarati newspaper.
"Earlier our children used to spend time catching snakes or scorpions, now they are going to school," he said.
Grateful for this help, the community reveres him as nothing less than a god and congregates for prayers at the temple twice a day, the report said.
Modi's demigod status, which was enhanced after last month's election victory in the state, has also inspired a fan to pen a "Modi chalisa" on the lines of the Hanuman chalisa, a 40-verse salutation to the Hindu deity.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.