This article is of September 13, 2005
Bhubaneswar: Lord Ganesh is no longer a Hindu deity in Orissa. A mosque-like structure has been constructed as a marquee at a puja pandal and the Quran has been chanted during the procession for immersion of the idol. This particular Ganesh puja was celebrated for 20 days!
The Orissa Muslims have been celebrating Ganesh puja for over 10 years in Bhubaneswar, in a rare show of communal amity and fraternal between Hindus and Muslims.
A group of Muslims, mostly fishermen, have been organising prayers for Lord Ganesha. They have formed a Jawan Matsya Byabasayi Sangha Puja Committee and have been performing this prayer ritual for the last 12 years.
Local Hindus help them in the celebration. There are a few differences in the manner in which the puja is conducted. While the Ganesh idol is immersed on the same or next day as a practice in other places, the Muslims continue the festivities for 20 days. And during the immersion procession some lines from the Quran are chanted and prayers held for about two hours.
“We perform all the Hindu rituals while the god is on marquee,” revealed Abid Hussain, a functionary of the Puja committee.
This year’s Ganesh festival has a 40 ft marquee complete with tombs and minarets. Committee members, all Muslims clad in ‘roza’ (period of fasting) dresses, have been chanting Ganesha chants every day and distributing prasad made of coconut, milk and paneer to visitors.
Muslims and Hindus in Orissa have always set examples of brotherhood. Muslims of Narayanpur village in western Orissa organise the Jagannath Rath Yatra and Hindus in Sambalpur in western Orissa take out ‘tazia’ processions during Muharram.
Strange : Ganesh puja in a mosque
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Bhubaneswar Muslims celebrate Ganesh festival
Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar
Nearly two dozen Muslim businessmen and their family members have been performing Ganesh puja for the last 10 years in Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa.
A majority of them are fish traders. They organise the puja by constructing a huge pandal and installing an idol of Lord Ganesh in keeping with Hindu rituals.
"We have formed an organization called the 'Jawan Matshya Byabasai Sangha Puja committee' and all Muslims are its members," the secretary of the committee, Seikh Mustafa, said.
He said the members organise the puja for 20 days, with local Hindu families also contributing. "We immerse the idol in the local Kuakhai river after the conclusion of the puja," he told rediff.com
But, Mustafa added, while they perform the puja according to Hindu rites, they also recite a few lines from the Quran daily, and conduct Islamic prayers for about two hours while immersing the idol.
Like in the past, this year too the Muslims have constructed a huge pandal in their locality depicting a mosque and begun performing the puja from Tuesday. "Every night we have planned to organize cultural programmes," Mustafa said. "We wear roza [the Ramzan fast] dress, but chant Hindu mantras."
Though this endeavour has failed to draw much publicity in Bhubaneswar, the puja organisers are encouraged by the response from other places. "We have received more then 9,000 messages from all over the world supporting our attempt," Mustafa said.
Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar
Nearly two dozen Muslim businessmen and their family members have been performing Ganesh puja for the last 10 years in Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa.
A majority of them are fish traders. They organise the puja by constructing a huge pandal and installing an idol of Lord Ganesh in keeping with Hindu rituals.
"We have formed an organization called the 'Jawan Matshya Byabasai Sangha Puja committee' and all Muslims are its members," the secretary of the committee, Seikh Mustafa, said.
He said the members organise the puja for 20 days, with local Hindu families also contributing. "We immerse the idol in the local Kuakhai river after the conclusion of the puja," he told rediff.com
But, Mustafa added, while they perform the puja according to Hindu rites, they also recite a few lines from the Quran daily, and conduct Islamic prayers for about two hours while immersing the idol.
Like in the past, this year too the Muslims have constructed a huge pandal in their locality depicting a mosque and begun performing the puja from Tuesday. "Every night we have planned to organize cultural programmes," Mustafa said. "We wear roza [the Ramzan fast] dress, but chant Hindu mantras."
Though this endeavour has failed to draw much publicity in Bhubaneswar, the puja organisers are encouraged by the response from other places. "We have received more then 9,000 messages from all over the world supporting our attempt," Mustafa said.