In a country that is increasingly becoming polarized over issues such as religion, caste and other divisive elements, a village in the suburbs of Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram is being hailed for its communal harmony.
Once such incident of communal compatibility was witnessed on Sunday when the local temple threw a reception for an Eid Milad-un-Nabi—the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad celebrated as Nabi Dinam in Kerala—rally organised by the local mosque.
The village was news earlier this year, too, when the same temple organised a reception for the local church’s Way of the Cross procession Good Friday. The church and the mosque are known to have organised receptions for the temple’s annual procession as well.
Pirappancode, about 20 kilometres from the city, has had harmony among the worship centres of different religions for as long as the residents can remember. The village is getting attention as attempts to create communal divides, by vested interest groups, were failing here, say those associated with the worship centres.
The Pirappancode Sree Krishnaswami Temple, an ancient place of worship under the Travancore Devaswom Board, held the Nabi Dinam rally reception organised by the nearby Perayathumukal Juma Masjid. An idol of Lord Krishna, a traditional lamp and sweet temple “prasadam” were also arranged at the entrance of the temple to integrate it into a cultural rally.
Members of the temple advisory committee, led by secretary Sunil Kumar, distributed refreshments to the Nabi Dinam rally participants, and the mosque’s Chief Imam Shafi Baqavi expressed his gratitude for the reception.
A religious harmony meeting was also held, which was attended by the vicar of the nearby Saint Mother Teresa church.
The temple had given a similar reception to the Way of the Cross procession by Saint Mother Teresa church, the church and the mosque were known to provide reception for the “Pallivetta” procession in connection with the annual festival of the temple.
According to Kumar, such practices of communal harmony were prevailing in the region for many years, over the last few years these were getting noticed because incidents disturbed communal harmony were being reported from various places in the state.
Hence the temple, mosque and church representatives are now giving more importance to these events to strengthen the communal harmony in the village.