Villagers in Bihar are worshipping a clay idol of two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma, who is now recovering from a complicated operation in Bangalore to remove her parasitic twin.

They believe she has some divine powers. Her clay idol was installed in the village by her family.

"Many villagers, particularly women, started worshipping a clay idol of Lakshmi Tatma," Shambhu Tamti said.

Pix: Medical marvel gives Lakshmi a new life

Lakshmi Tatma's hails from Rampur Kodarkatti village in Araria district near the Nepal border.

It was Shambhu Tamti, who made a clay idol of Lakshmi Tatma after hundreds of people started thronging the village to get a glimpse of Lakshmi Tatma in her absence. "I was forced to make a clay idol of Lakshmi as people insisted to offer rituals as a gesture to her divine powers," he said.

According to him, villagers are happy that doctors at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore, who performed the rare surgery, said the child was safe and was recovering fast.

Lakshmi's marathon 27-hour operation had attracted worldwide attention.

Lakshmi was brought to Bangalore in October by Dr Patil as an ischiopagus twin having two bodies joined at her pelvis. Only one of the twins had a head, while the other was a parasite. Two pairs of legs and arms were formed at either end of the two adjoining torsos, thus appearing as a child with eight limbs.