Machilipatnam, September 16, 2013: Else where the festival is the bone of contention between Hindus and Mulims, but here it is a time to celebrate “brotherhood”. Giving true meaning to the phrases ‘unity in diversity’ and ‘living in harmony’, Muslim families of Mubarak-E-Bandar (the Urdu name for the town) celebrate the nine-day Vinayaka Chavithi festival along with their fellow Hindus in Kokavari street.

With half of the Utsav committee members being Muslims, they have become party to every event in the celebration of the festival.

Besides taking part in the installation ceremony which involves offering special daily prayers to the deity amid vedic chants, they also make monitory contributions like all the Hindu families for the celebrations.

All attend the programmes in which prayers are offered to Lord Ganesha and then the women and children enjoy going in a procession to the Manginapudi beach to watch the idol being immersed in the sea, Pandal Committee member Sheik Dastagiri told The Hindu.

Among the estimated 150 families in the street, a majority are Muslim and the pandal is therefore erected adjacent to the houses of the Muslim families. The special food items made for the festival are relished by all cutting across lines of caste and creed.

Visitors that come to the pandal are amazed by the scene of religious harmony with Hindus attending the evening puja in their traditional attire and Muslims too being present. The women are in their burqa and the men wear their caps like they do during their prayer.

“We consider it a social event rather than a religious ceremony. As there are no religious differences among our families in the street, we are able to celebrate it in a grand manner every year,” say Utsav Committee members Mohammed Chota and K. Venkat.

Source: The Hindu, September 16, 2013