Unity in Diversity: Tamil Nadu’s communal harmony shines bright in a divided nation Muslims extend support for temple construction and inaugural feast in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu
27, May 2024 | CJP Team
A heartrending instance of communal harmony has emerged from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. In a Muslim concentrated area, the local Muslim residents of the RMJ Rose Garden Jamaath Mosque came together and donated land worth 6 lakhs for the construction of a temple, as pera report in The Hindu. The Muslims from the mosque donated the land after the local Hindus could not find any piece of land three months ago.
Mohammed Raja, a local resident, shared with the New Indian Express that around 10 Hindu residents had told the Muslims about their need for a temple and had requested land in the area.
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The temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha was inaugurated with a feast at Ottapalayam near Padiyur, Kangayam, in Tiruppur district on May 26, 2024. The temple today stands on three cents of land generously donated by the local Muslim Jamaath. The construction of the temple was funded by Rs 10 lakh which was collected through donations from locals as well as the panchayat president.
The two communities have reportedly lived together in harmony for years, and this incident of generous donation adds to the comfort and trust between the two communities. This relation reflected further in the celebration of the temple inauguration where members of the Muslim community, including children, arrived and brought with them a traditional ‘seervarisai’ offering, consisting of fruits, flowers, and other items arranged on plates. During the inauguration ceremony, Muslim residents contributed Rs 30,000 for the ‘annadanam’ which is the community feast.
Members of both communities can be seen greeting and garlanding each other.
தமிழ்நாடு ❤️
In Tiruppur’s Ootappalayam village, Muslims have donated 3 cents of land to the Hindu community to build a Ganesha temple as the village lacked one.
Muslims and Hindus together participated in the Kudamulukku function of the newly built temple pic.twitter.com/GDFdgHnDC5
— Dharani Balasubramaniam (@dharannniii) May 26, 2024
The area, Rose Garden, is a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, but has a small share of Hindu families living there as well, as per The Hindu.
Similarly, in February 2024, the Tamil Nadu State Committee of All-India Muslim Centre had facilitated the wedding ceremonies of numerous couples in the state. The weddings took place according to the individual’s respective customs. The organiser’s parent party is the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)
According to the New Indian Express, 23 couples got married with their parents’ consent. Uut of this diverse mix of couples, six were Hindu, three were Christian and fourteen were Muslim.
The organisation gifted every couple 10 grams of gold along with items to set up their new life including furniture, groceries, and utensils worth Rs 2 lakh. The event was attended by 2000 guests with non-vegetarian and vegetarian food items.
In January 2024, similarly the state’s chief minister and DMK President MK Stalin had recently slammed the right-wing and said that January 30th should be celebrated as a day for religious harmony on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He argued that even after 75 years of independent communal harmony was yet to be achieved.
