Mangaluru: The Father of the Nation is a deity at the at the Brahma Baidarkala Garodi at Kankanady over the last six decades and he has been offered Puja like any other God.

It’s a statue made of clay installed at the Garodi on December 15, 1948. It was replaced with a white marble statue in 2011.

According to Sandeep, a staff at the garodi, puja was offered to the statue at 6 a.m., 11.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. daily. A lamp is lit every day and puja offered. “Gandhiji at the Garodi has its own devotees,” he said.

Every year, there will be special puja on October 2 and usual puja on Independence Day.

He said that the statue was set up because the governing council members of the Garodi were his staunch followers.Narasappa Saliyan and Soma Pandit set up the statue sponsored by Venkappa, he said.