At the time when the world has become a simmering cauldron of religious intolerance, a Muslim family in Assam has set a new example of brotherhood. In this heartwarming story, you will be introduced to a Muslim family in Assam’s capital Guwahati that is taking care of a 500-year-old Shiva temple. It doesn’t end here, they are offering their unwavering service for generations.
Of course, they are perpetuating the eternal concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’ that India is synonymous to. In a country like us, where there is a variety of languages, religions and cultures, the zeal to celebrate each other’s festivals is ingrained in us.
In this story, the said family is bearing the responsibility of the temple’s upkeep for last 500 years! The temple is located in Guwahati and soaks you up with spirituality once you visit. You will notice Shiva idols draped in Red clothes and being worshipped under a huge banyan tree. According to Matibar, the head of the family, “ It’s a 500-year-old temple, our family looks after it”.
The temple is highly revered among the devotees because it doesn’t differentiate between religions. People from all religious faiths come here to offer their prayers and seek divine blessings. According to Rehman, another member of the family, “People from both religions, Hindu and Muslim, come here to offer prayers”
The temple is the flag-bearer of the brotherhood that is observed in our nation, goes without saying. However, this is not the first time that Muslims offered prayers in a Hindu temple. In another instance, Muslim families in Karnataka’s Gadag district celebrate Eid with Hindu families by performing Puja in the temples. A blissful amalgam of different religious faiths, we must say!
In another of such heartwarming incidents, a Muslim man in Karnataka donated a portion of his retirement benefits for the construction of the Ganesha temple. He said that he had a vivid dream of Lord Ganesha asking him to install a Ganesha idol.
This gets us to bring forth a story of Muslim priests worshipping Lord Shiva in a 900-year-old Shiva temple in Kashmir. The temple that is situated in the banks of icy Lidder river, is the only Hindu shrine in Kashmir valley run by Muslim priests. They have taken care of the temple ever since migration of Kashmiri Pundits to a nearby village. Two Muslim priests, Mohammad Abdullah and Ghulam Hassan kept the temple bells tolling.
When such stories circulate in social media, our faith in humanity is reconstructed. If people continue to show tolerance to each other’s faiths in this manner, the world will become a better place for the generations to come.
