Breaking barriers

Every year,when the idols of Brahma,Vishnu and Maheshwara are taken out in a procession from the Hayagriva-Madhava temple to the...

Every year,when the idols of Brahma,Vishnu and Maheshwara are taken out in a procession from the Hayagriva-Madhava temple to the banks of the Brahmaputra,Md Tamij Ali and 20 other Muslim inhabitants of Sualkuchi in Hajo,Assam,and nearby villages prepare for a very special role: they have to turn up in their finest silk kurta-pyjamas and lead the 15-km long procession.

My father,my grandfather,and probably his grandfather too had taken great pride in performing this sacred responsibility for the Hayagriva-Madhava temple, says 65-year-old Ali,a resident of Faqirtola,a village on the foothills of the Garudachal hill in Hajo.

But the Hayagriva-Madhava temple is just one instance of religious amity in Hajo,a multi-religious centre in Assams Kamrup district thats about 28 km across the Brahmaputra from Guwahati.

On the Garudachal hill is Poa-Mecca,the oldest Muslim shrine in Assam. The shrine is revered by people of all faiths. Poa-Mecca has a 16th century mosque as well as the mazaar of Giasuddin Auilya,a Sufi preacher who is believed to have come all the way from Persia to set up the mosque.

And as some believe,one visit to Poa-Mecca is equal to one-fourth of a trip to Mecca,with poa in Assamese meaning one-fourth of a kg. There are also people who say that the preacher had brought along with him one poa of soil from Mecca to lay the foundation of this mosque.

These could be myths woven over the centuries. But the fact is that for the Hindus here,Poa-Mecca is as important and sacred as Hayagriva-Madhava and the four other temples in Hajo. And its the same for the Muslims, says Syed Mahtab Ali,an elderly Muslim who is also a member of the Pancha-Tirtha Parichalana Samiti that looks after the five Hindu shrines here.

The Muslim families of Hajo also vote to elect members of the Samiti,just like the Hindu families, says Sambhu Dutta Sarmah,secretary of the Samiti. There are about 300 Muslim families who are attached to the Hindu temples and they are called sevaits,says Sarmah.

Story continues below this ad

On the day of Bhogali Bihu,the Assamese harvest festival in January,the khadim of Poa-Mecca has to formally hand over the dharma-dhwaja to the temple priest to flag off a colourful procession through the town, says Sarmah.

The procession ends on the foothills of Poa-Mecca and is followed by a public meeting where the two religious heads pray for a better harvest the next year.

We have a large number of Hindu visitors from outside,apart from the people of Hajo,who come to offer prayers in Poa-Mecca, says Syed Musha Haque,the khadim of Poa-Mecca.

Muslims too visit the temples here. The Muslims offer their prayers from the western gate of the temple, says Sarmah,recalling that one of the most distinguished devotee at the Hayagriva-Madhava temple was former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Story continues below this ad

So inseparable are Muslims and Hindus here that a village called Bamun-bori bamun meaning Brahmin has only Muslim inhabitants.

But even as Hindus and Muslims share and take pride in the heritage that is Hajo,the Buddhists too form an important part of Hajo. Buddhists believe that it was here,in the Hayagriva-Madhava temple campus,that Lord Buddha attained his maha-prayana, says Sarmah.