Mamata wishes Amitabh Bachchan on his 77th birthday

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wished Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on his 77th birthday.

She wished him good health and happiness and prayed that the legendary actor continues to entertain people around the world through his acting skills.

"Wishing you a very happy birthday, @SrBachchan ji.

"Wish you good health and happiness. May you continue to entertain people across the world," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle on Friday morning.

Bengali film superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee shared a picture of Amitabh Bachchan and himself on his twitter handle.

Chatterjee tweeted "Happy Birthday @SrBachchan ji.

"Salute your relentless spirit and love for cinema. You are the true torchbearer for Indian Cinema and a living legend."

Meanwhile, the needy and the poor were fed in a temple located in the city's Bondel Gate area where Bachchan is worshipped.

Big B, who is referred to as 'guru' and 'prabhu' by his fans here is also married to Jaya Bhaduri, daughter of Bengali journalist-writer Taroon Kumar Bhaduri.

The fans perform arti every morning and evening in front of his idol.

Founded in 2001, the temple stands as a mark of extreme devotion of Big B's fans in the City of Joy, and their unconditional love for him. Every year, his birthday is celebrated at the temple and this year too will be no exception.

Talking about it, founder of the temple Sanjay Patodiya said: "This year, we will be worshipping guru's parents Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan to express our gratitude to them for gifting us this Koh-i-Noor.

"This time, as guru turns 77, that many children have taken part in the birthday celebration with us. We have treated them to lunch and gifted them clothes, toys, books etc.

"On any occasion, we start the day by worshipping guru's parents. This time also we will worship his statue and offer him bhog.

"He is not fond of cakes, so we offer him mewa for his good health. After that, his birthday cake will be cut along with the 77 kids.

"Later in the day, we will go to Kalighat temple to offer puja in his name and pray for his long and healthy life. We also feed the needy people sitting outside the temple in guru's name."

Now, how did Amitabh Bachchan temple come into existence?

In 1982, when Amitabh Bachchan met

with a fatal accident on the sets of Coolie which almost took his life, his fans went into a state of shock.

"When he got injured in 1982, at that time, we felt like as if we are losing our father. We were only praying for his recovery then. From that time, I started dreaming of worshipping him like a deity because I realized that he is nothing less than God to me. Finally, we could build the temple in 2001," said Sanjay. With agency inputs