Preparations for his visit have been meticulous; dignitaries have cleared their diaries and doorways have been enlarged - but then this is one guest you would not want to upset.

The return of The Great Khali - a 7ft 3in (2.21m), 30st (190kg) professional wrestler - to his native India from the United States where he plies his trade, has created a level of hysteria usually reserved for Bollywood idols and cricketing heroes.

His itinerary would not disgrace a visiting head of state. Khali (named Daleep Singh Rana by his parents and renamed after Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, for his wrestling career) was received by the President. Snapshots of the meeting show Khali's eye-popping physique towering above Pratibha Patil, one of the world's more petite leaders. The wrestler told The Times that she described him as “the pride of the nation”.

The rendezvous dovetailed neatly with the populist turn that Indian politics has taken before elections that are expected next year.

Aam aadmi (the man on the street) has become hugely enamoured of the outrageous theatrics of American-style pro-wresting. Crowds gather outside television showroom windows when bouts from the World Wrestling Entertainment league, in which Khali appears, are shown. Thousands turned out in Delhi to greet him when he landed. “The Great Khali is very, very happy with the response of the common man here,” Amit Swami, his public relations manager, said.

Similar scenes are expected in Bombay, which Khali visits on Saturday. “The security staff are upset over how they will manage,” one of his entourage said. Next week the government of Himachal Pradesh, his home state, is due to decorate one of its most famous sons for services to his country.

Khali's rags-to-riches story plays well in a nation racked with poverty. Born to poor parents, he was one of seven children and, largely unschooled, become a labourer. During a stint as a security guard he was spotted by a former chief of the Punjab police, who offered him a job and turned him on to wrestling. Success and a move to America followed.

Khali continues to be a sub-inspector “on leave” from the police, from which he still draws a salary. He was dismissed from the service two years ago, when he joined the WWE, but the order was revoked. His fellow officers are said to be waiting eagerly for him to visit his station - he may have to report back there for duty to apply for more leave.

The parents of the former Mr India have heightened the entrance to their home, in the village of Dhirana, to a generous eight feet to give their lad some headroom. “We want to give him good facilities here,” Khali's mother, Tandi Devi, told the local press. Presumably she has stocked up for his brief stay. Legend has it that he eats five chickens and fifty eggs a day.

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