Alot (Madhya Pradesh): At a time when communal intolerance and debates about it are tearing the country apart, there are still places in the state where harmony stands.

For example, there is a village in Ratlam district where Hindus and Muslims worship within the same compound wall which houses both a temple and a mosque side by side.

Makanpura village near Taal village in Alot tehsil of Ratlam district has had Jai Shri Khedapati Veer Hanuman temple and Noorani mosque in one place since time immemorial.

People who follow both religions come to worship at the temple and also pay respect to the mosque, and vice versa. Even during festivals of either community, the mosque and the temple are also decorated when people come together to celebrate, regardless of the faith to which they belong.

All religious activities and management of the temple are handled by its priest Madan Guru, while the Sadar of the mosque is Abid Khan Mew.

Village elders say that although the administration and local police consider the village sensitive and have deployed police personnel after a recent violent incident, people from different communities here are praying together.

“The Creator is the same, only the names are different,” said the Madan Guru temple priest, “If we worship one, how can we ignore the other?”

The priest of the Mew mosque, has similar opinions: “We respect each other’s faith. There has never been a conflict between the two communities here.”

Time and time again, when communal violence broke out in India, the temple and the mosque continued to be maintained with peace and care, without any collision between their worshipers.

Posted: Saturday April 16th 2022, 8:16 PM IST