They bowed before the Sarkar and broke into wild celebrations each time he sent the box office tinkling. They surprised him with a cake exactly his size on his last birthday.

And now fans of mega star Amitabh Bachchan have taken their reverence a step ahead - they have put him at par with god by worshipping ‘his' shoes ceremonially installed on a throne.

On Guru Purnima, when the faithful worship their gurus, hundreds of starry-eyed fans got together in a south Kolkata locale to pay their respects to Big B.

Placed on a King sized ornamented throne from Bachchan film Aks, were a pair of shoes that he wore in Agneepath as fans touched them and, in true tradition, put imaginary dust on their foreheads.

"Lord Ram was worshipped his by younger brother in absentia through his shoes which ruled over Ayodhya. Amitji rules our hearts and we accord him the position of god as a guru is worshipped in Hindu tradition," Sanjay Patodiya, state secretary of the All Bengal Amitabh Bachchan Fans' Association (ABFA) said.

‘Devotees' wearing kurta payjamas with Bachchan photograph embossed on them and many wearing ‘chunris' made a style statement as the venue was decked up with memorabilia from the star's films.

Bachchan was omni present in the songs played, in the chants by his admirers and in the huge posters put around the venue.