In the village of Melekuttimoodu, nestled just around 20 kilometres from the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, a beautiful story of unity and friendship between communities has taken place.
The famous Sri Chammundeswari Temple, which is visited by many devotees from all over India, which recently saw a visit by Congress politician Rahul Gandhi’s part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, is set next to the Parayil Mosque. It was undergoing renovations after an idol reinstallation ceremony held last February. However, the temple committee began to deliberate how to display the name of the temple when they discovered that they had encountered a logistical challenge – a lack of space to put up a board.
It was at this point that the Parayil Masjid located nearby proposed that the temple can add their name to its own board placed nearby. The mosque offered to share a portion of its entrance board, and the temple board accepted.
Today, the arch outside the mosque showcases both the names of the Parayil Moasjid as well as the Sri Chammundeswari Temple, Melekuttimoodu, according to a report by South First.
The secretary of the Parayil Masjid Mahal committee Rasheed Chullimanoor told South First, “We came to know about their difficulty. We discussed it and approached them with our idea. They happily accepted it. We are also happy that we could help our brothers. In a seemingly polarised world, if this unassuming archway offers a powerful message of unity and hope, we are delighted. If it resonates with the new generation, we are indebted to God.”
The announcement came after the Mahal committee decided to include the name, following which formal requests were exchanged in the second week of March.
When asked about the significance of this development, the president of the temple committee stated that it was an ordinary gesture that the current times had turned into something extraordinary, “These are times when some vested minds attempt to destroy the social fabric as they try to divide society on religious lines. We hope that this arch will act as a beacon of hope and harmony.”
Similarly, Punjab witnessed a heartening instance of communal harmony between Muslims and Sikhs. The now viral video from Malerkotla in Punjab captured a unique moment where a Sikh gurudwara offered its prayer space for namaz as a gesture of communal harmony. In the video, prayers and readings, the Path and Namaz, can be seen conducted simultaneously within the main hall of the Baba Gursevak Singh Gurudwara as thee holy month of Ramadan continues this March.
According to a report by the Times of India, this was an organised event held at the Gurudwara Baba Gursevak Singh and saw residents of the village come together to collectively participate in the event by engaging in prayers and readings across faiths.
Furthermore, showing a deep resolve to reduce religion based animosity, the Azaan (call to prayer) was also recited within the main hall, called the Darbar Sahib, of the Gurudwara Sahib, and there onwards was followed by the offering of Namaz by the Muslim community. Later, members of the Muslim community hosted an Iftar gathering in the Langar Hall of the Gurudwara, breaking their fast together with their Sikh and Hindu brethren. The event was hosted in a village which has a majority of Sikh families but also hosts a few Muslim families, a fact which makes the gesture even more significant and heart-warming. According to TOI, Dr Naseer, of the Sikh Muslim Sanjhan, said the community is very touched by the gesture by the villagers, ‘especially the Sikh brothers’ for having organised the iftar event.
One of the organisers, Jagtar Singh Guru, said that Punjab is a land of diversity as it hosted pirs and gurus, and now is an example of communal harmony to the world.
Times of India similarly reported that not a few miles from Malerkotla, a similar iftar event had been organised by Sri Ram Mandir Committee on March 25.
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