Blog: Why Big B should not be worshipped

I love my religion and its Vedic philosophy. The way how many of my fellows practice our faith makes me thoroughly sick to my stomach. Below is a video of people making a murti, an icon, of Amitabh Bachchan and subsequently worshipping it. Nothing in our religion, vast and liberal as it is, could sanction such a practice

To those who do not know, Hinduism is a fundamentally monotheistic religion. But unlike the Abrahamic faiths, it encourages its adherents to understand God in their own personable manner. Thus, a million practices and deities have appeared; most, like that which occurs in the mouse temple not sanctioned by any Veda. Even then, in a loose sense, it has roots in the Vedic religion, which preaches that every living creature has a value to it, even lowly mice. Mind you, I didn't feel closer to God with mice scurrying about, but if it makes better men out of the citizens of Deshnoke, then more power to them. At worst, there is some merit to feeding and providing shelter to another living creature. Compare this to the worship of Amitabh Bachchan. Offering prashad to a clay murti of an actor, even a man as great as him, will do no person any good. It doesn't make the world more charitable or more pious and doesn't even make devotees better actors. Instead, at best, this practice takes food from the mouth of the poor and leads men away from making a meaningful difference in their community.

Don't get the wrong idea-Amitabh Bachchan is my favorite Bollywood actor. There's no finer way of passing a lazy Saturday afternoon than watching one of his films, especially Sholay. But this isn't about him or his status. It's about the disease that's crept into our faith and the complacency that we have towards eradicating these ills in our society.

In short, if these macacas are serious about worshipping Amitabh Bachchan, they are mentally ill; if they aren't, then they make a mockery of our ancient faith.

[PS: Worship of film stars and mice is not at all common in India. I use this, however, as an example of the idiocy that pervades Indian society.]

http://www.indiafm.com/features/2006/12/23/1977/index.html