With the deity: Actors Manoj Tiwari and Dinesh Lal Yadav, and (right) Kaimur district magistrate Arvind Kumar Singh with Sachin Tendulkar’s statue at Atarwalia village on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

The God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, has a new place of worship — Atarwalia in Bihar. After bidding farewell to an illustrious 24-year-old career at the temples of Eden Gardens and Wankhede, Sachin has come to the Kaimur village, around 250km west of Patna.

In his Team India blazer and with the 2011 cricket World Cup in hand, the benign god — the first sportsperson and the youngest to receive the Bharat Ratna — stands in all his glory.

For those surprised, Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwari has delivered on his promise of unveiling a statue of the Master Blaster.

If once — not too long ago — devotees of the cricket God flocked to the pitches of Calcutta and Mumbai, they can now make a beeline for Atarwalia village in Kaimur. District magistrate Arvind Kumar Singh on Tuesday unveiled the 5-foot-5-inch statue of Sachin at the temple Tiwari had promised to build after India’s 2011 World Cup win.

Yes, the statue even emulates the Master Blaster’s height.

“I did not want to make any change in the statue as far as Sachin’s personality was concerned. So, I strictly asked the artist to build it according to Sachin’s height,” Tiwari told The Telegraph over phone from Atarwalia.

Atarwalia is the actor-singer’s native village. The temple dedicated to Team India is not yet complete though.

“This is the first time that the idol (statue) has been unveiled before the construction of the temple is complete. Normally the idol is installed later. When India won the cricket World Cup in 2011, I had announced that I would build a temple christened ‘Cricket Ka Mandir’ and I fulfilled my promise,” Tiwari said.

The statue weighing at 500kg was built in Jaipur, Rajasthan, for Rs 8 lakh. District magistrate Singh unveiled it in the presence of Tiwari and Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav.

Built of world-class Makrana marble, sculptor Khem Raj prepared the statue in three months. Transporting the life-like figure from Jaipur to Kaimur by truck took four days.

Tiwari said: “So far, people have been worshiping the idols of gods and goddess. Sachin is also god — of cricket — and his followers would surely love to worship him. This statue and the temple are my gifts to the people of Bihar. I am sure people, not only from Bihar, but also from other states will come here to pay their respects to Sachin,” said Tiwari.

“For now, people can visit the temple to worship Sachin. The construction of the temple will start soon,” he added. The temple would be spread over an area of 6,000sqft.

The prayers to be offered to Sachin fit the cricket god well too. Everyday at 6pm, a pre-recorded Sachin Tendulkar aarti would be played. Tiwari has composed the six-minute aarti’s music and lyrics.

The lyrics run such: “Dum dum baje damru, jale kapur aur baati, hai cricket ke devta, teri karu aarti.” Devotees present at the aarti will receive prasad once it is over.