Thursday, February 12, 2015

Temple to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped

An idol of Narendra Modi had already been installed at the temple

Fans of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have scrapped plans to open a temple dedicated to him after he said he was "appalled" by the idea.

Mr Modi tweeted that it was "shocking and against India's great traditions" and urged those who had built the temple "not to do it".
The Hindu temple, with an idol of Mr Modi, was to open in Kotharia village in his home state of Gujarat on Sunday.
Mr Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP took office in May.
He had his first major political setback earlier this week when the party was trounced in elections for the Delhi state assembly.
In India, deifying politicians, film stars and cricketers is relatively common.
Temples have been built in the memory of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and popular film star-turned-politician NT Rama Rao.
Last January, a temple with an idol of Sonia Gandhi, the head of India's main opposition Congress party, was opened by a supporter in southern India.
This is the second temple to Mr Modi - a priest in Kaushambi district in northern India had placed a statue of Mr Modi alongside a statue of Hindu god Shiva to pray for his victory in last year's general election.
Reports say the temple is still in operation.
Some 350 Modi supporters reportedly collected donations for the construction of a dome-roofed temple, some 210km (130 miles) from Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad.
Mr Modi served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 until becoming prime minister.
The latest temple was funded by Mr Modi's followers in his home state
But they later covered up their idol, and cancelled plans to honour the prime minister
However, an earlier idol of Mr Modi in Uttar Pradesh is still in use
The supporters initially put a framed photograph of the prime minister in the temple, but later bought an idol for 170,000 rupees ($2,724; £1,789).
"We believe he is an incarnation of God as after he became chief minister of Gujarat things changed for the better," one supporter, Ramesh Undhad, told AFP news agency.
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