Daijiworld Media Network - Gadag (SP)
Gadag, Jun 14: A special puja had been organized at Lord Hanuman temple in Ron taluk of the district recently. The unique feature of this prayer was that there were Muslim women among those who sought Lord Hanuman's intervention. The prayer was offered seeking the Lord’s grace in the form of good rainfall in the region.
Water problem has been an integral part of one's life in districts located in Hyderabad Karnataka region. Because of the fact that acute water shortage that makes the family members to work hard and spend lot of time to fetch water from distant places and also because access to drinking water is very limited, the people here commonly perform different kinds of pujas and austerities to appease gods towards getting early and enough rainfall. This time, Muslim women from Srinagar here joined their Hindu counterparts to appease the rain god with the intervention of Lord Hanuman towards getting rain.
The puja was planned last week. The incident got wide publicity after the matter got spread through social media. Many residents of Srinagar had come to Lord Maruti (Hanuman) temple last Saturday and offered puja seeking good rainfall and agricultural yield this year. The puja got special attention because of the fact that there were Muslims among the women who offered prayers in the temple.
One of the participants, Ranjanabi Badin, said that the region has not got enough rainfall since the last several years. "In the past, the people here used to live harmoniously without differentiating between people belonging to other castes and religions. Now things have changed. However, we should protect the unity and harmony as before. If we nourish communal harmony, the Lord will bless us. Therefore, we visit Lord Maruti temple to perform puja," she explained.
Another Muslim devotee, Katunabi Mugali, insists that the Lord is the same for everyone and that the temple is just a medium to reach the Lord.
"When Muslim ladies evinced interest in performing puja, we happily took them to the temple. We offered special puja to the lord. This kind of mentality augurs well for the society, and it is good that this news has spread everywhere," said Meenakshi Shivashimpi.