Patna: As the world celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday, a man from a modest background set a powerful example of love, sacrifice and devotion by transforming his affection for his wife into lifelong worship.Like every day, Balkishun Ram offered flowers and vermilion at the life-size statue of his late wife, Sharda Devi, inside a 65 ft-tall “temple” he constructed in her memory at a cost of Rs65 lakh in Bhuvan Chhapra village under Chakia block of East Champaran district.
A retired panchayat secretary, Balkishun says he would have spent even Rs65 crore in her memory if he had the means. Sharda died of a heart attack in 2022, just six months before his retirement.His voice trembled as he recounted his life story. He lost his father in childhood, which forced him to drop out of school. However, Sharda sold her jewellery and urged him to resume his studies. “She worked as a labourer, managed the household, and encouraged me to move forward. I became a panchayat secretary because of my wife’s sacrifice. If a woman can consider her husband as ‘Parmeshwar’, why can’t a man worship his wife as a ‘devi’?” he said.“She wore a sari of ‘markeen’, the fabric Marwari shopkeepers spread in their shops. But she never complained. No one can repay a mother’s debt, but my wife did more for me than a mother ever could,” he said.“Sharda had heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure since 2007. Treatment continued, but she succumbed. I didn’t see God, but my wife was in front of me as God,” he told visitors to the site.Sharda’s death left Balkishun devastated, prompting him to use his entire retiral benefits of Rs65 lakh to immortalise her memory.After nearly three years of effort, the “temple” was completed and inaugurated by the then tourism minister Raju Kumar Singh last April. Since then, the “poor Balkishun’s Taj Mahal” has become a site of devotion and discussion in the area.A lamp is lit in the temple every morning and evening. A cup of tea is placed before the idol because she loved tea. Lunch and dinner are also offered with devotion. The joint family of four sons and a daughter continues to remain united under the enduring shadow of that love.
