KILLAI (TN): Showcasing secular values in this remote village of Tamil Nadu, a devout Muslim couple have built a temple for Hindu Goddess Mariamman in the backyard of their house and conduct regular poojas, arousing interest and curiosity in this region, which remains a citadel of communal harmony.
It all started with a dream that M Bashirbi (50) had in her sleep and her husband Mohammed Ali Jinnah (55) without any hesitation gave his full backing for building the small temple 10 years back in the backyard of their thatched house in this town, near Chidambaram, about 250 km south of Chennai.
"We built the temple 10 years back after the Amman appeared in my wife's dream. When she told me about this, I immediately accepted. I did not consult anyone... for me all religions are the same," Jinnah, who runs a tea shop, said.
Bashiribi raised money by selling her jewels and through other means to build the temple. "We went to Kumbakonam, known for idol making, to purchase the idols," she said.
Since then Bashiribi has been conducting poojas and even holding annual festivals when the utsav idol of the Goddess is taken around the town.
The family doesn't find any contradictions in being Muslims and at the same time tending to a Hindu Goddess. Though Jinnah has stopped offering namaz and visits to the mosque for Friday prayers, his sons still offer namaz and attend Friday prayers.
Such has been Bashiribi's reverence to the Goddess, she even has the picture of the Mariamman tattooed on one of her hands.
Just as any other village Mariamman temple, Bashiribi's temple has two three-feet high idols, including the utsav idol which she claimed was made of 'panchaloha' (five metals) and the Trident outside.
"The name of the Goddess is Maha Mariamman. She is from Malaysia. She appeared in my dream and said she had come to my house and wanted me to build a temple for her near the neem tree," Bashiribi said.
Initially she appointed a 'purohit' to conduct the pujas and later learnt the rituals from him.
Bashiribi's desire now is to perform kumbabishekam (consecration) of the temple. However, money has been a problem for the 10-member family.
"The Goddes is very powerful. I want to perform Kumbabishekam (consecration) but don't have the resources. So far I have not sought donations from anyone," Bashiribi, a mother of eight children, said, expressing hope that the town panchayat and people would help her mobilise required funds.
A striking feature of the temple is it does not have a 'hundi'.
But the path to the temple has not been smooth for the family, which has been isolated from its relatives ever since they built it. "Our relatives are rich and well settled. But they are all angry over what we did. We now don't have any links with any of them," she said.
Her neighbour Jothi, who runs a petty shop, echoes Bashiribi's sentiments and said the Goddess was very powerful.
"We all worship the Amman. All of us take part in temple festivals," she said.
But for the people of the town, situated on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, and surrounding villages, this is nothing unusual as they continue to maintain a hoary tradition of perfect communal amity set by a Muslim ruler of the region some 300 years back.
