Mirror Image

Faith transcends all. Who knows it better than some enterprising souls in Gujarat. For devotees who can’t take the arduous journey to Vaishnodevi and Amarnath, they have created replicas at home. And queues of devotees are getting longer by the day prompting more such replicas.

Vaishnodevi at the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway in the outskirts of Ahmedabad draws enough crowds on weekends and holidays to jam the highway in the evenings. It’s a big draw for kids since the pilgrimage involves crawling through an artificial cave!

About 40 km from Ahmedabad, Amarnath Dham in Gandhinagar district hasn’t exactly brought the original shrine at devotees’ doorstep. Yet, its proximity to a water park has ensured that devotees and picnickers get best of both worlds. Next in line is Tirupati. Under construction at Ahmedabad, it’s close to Vaishnodevi.

Such profusion of images may seem a bit odd in a state that has Somnath, Dwarka, Ambaji and Akshardham, but then devotion knows no bounds.