Muslim family in MP ensures rituals in temples not disrupted

Bhopal: Daily rituals in Hindu temples in a communally sensitive town of Madhya Pradesh have been going on smoothly for the past decade, thanks to a Muslim family in the locality.

Anwar Khan (65) and his family members have been unfailingly supplying flowers and other materials used for numerous rituals to over two dozen temples in the district headquarters town of Harda everyday at nominal prices to ensure that functioning of the Hindu shrines is not disrupted “even for a day”.

The Khan family also supplies other “puja” materials like holy leaves (Bel) and grass blades for special occasions in the temples. “We do not recall a single instance in the last one decade wherein the Khan family failed to turn up to supply the puja materials,” Narrottam Dubey, a priest in the local Shiva temple said on Wednesday.

Priests of other temples also corroborated him. According to Mr Dubey, a member of the Khan family paddles in the early hours every day to the town from Birjakhendi village to supply flowers and puja materials to each temple. They charge a meagre Rs 150 a month from each temple.

“We have earmarked two acres of our land to grow flowers, particularly for the purpose of supplying flowers to the temples in the town. We get immense satisfaction in offering our service for a holy cause,” Mr Khan says.

The family has grown marigold, rose, jasmine, and lotus on their land. 

They also make sehra (flower headgears for Muslim grooms). The Khan family, comprising eight members, has grown grains in other three acres of their land.