H-M synthesis in West Bengal: Temple and mosque built adjacent to each other

by Guest Thu May 18, 2017 8:21 pm

In times when communal intolerance and debates over it are ripping through the country, there still remain places in India where harmony stands tall.

For instance, there is a village in West Bengal where Hindus and Muslims worship within the same compound wall that houses both a temple and a mosque side by side.

Tucked in the banks of the Ganges in Howrah district, the township named Bauria has had this temple and mosque in one place since time immemorial.

Elders say when people from different communities came to the village to work in a mill many years ago, Muslim workers had built the majar in the name of Baba Namallah Shah, while Hindu workers raised the temple for Lord Shiva.

The mill closed down long back, but the twin places of worship continued to be taken care of on the ground where the factory once stood. Currently, members of a local Hindu organisation called Shibtala committee are painting both the majar and the temple, as six months ago the followers of Baba Namallah Shah had done.

Worshipers who come to the temple offer adoration to the majar as well, and vice-versa. Even during the festivals of either communities, both the majar and temple are equally decorated as people come together to celebrate, disregard of which faith they belong to.

"The Creator is same, only the names are different," says a member of the Shibtala committee, Nirmal Adhikari, "If we worship one, how can we disregard the other?"
The priest of the majar, Sheikh Allauddin,holds similar views, "We respect each other's faith. There has never been any clash between the two communities here."

Time and again, when communal violence reared its ugly head in India, the temple and the mosque here continued to be tended with peace and care, witnessing no collision among their followers whatsoever.

Even now, as the fight over God and faith worsens in the country, these two simple-looking buildings of worship get painted in the same colour for the season, standing neck-to-neck like old friends.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/hope-stands-tall-temple-and-mosque-built-side-by-side-in-one-compound-in-west-bengal/1/515035.html

by SomeProfile Fri May 19, 2017 12:35 am

H-M synthesis in West Bengal: Temple and mosque built adjacent to each other

H-M synthesis in West Bengal: Temple and mosque built adjacent to each other

Re: H-M synthesis in West Bengal: Temple and mosque built adjacent to each other