Amidst the hijab, halal, Azaan and other controversies that have adversely affected religious harmony in society, a noble gesture by a Muslim man spreads a message of peace near Chikkahole dam in Chamarajanagar taluk.
P Rehman, a retired employee of the water resources department, has got a Ganesha temple built there. He has even appointed a priest for conducting daily pujas.
Rehman now serves as a gate operator at Suvarnavathi and Chikkahole dams.
He pays monthly wages to the priest. Special pujas are conducted every Monday and Friday at the temple and the villagers take part in them.
Rehman retired from the water resources department in 2018. He said a couple of months before his retirement, a Ganesha statue was stolen from a park near Chikkahole dam.
"I was upset. Soon I had recurrent dreams, in which God told me to construct a temple. Thus, I constructed a temple for Ganesha," he said.
"Like we worship Allah, Hindus worship Ishwar. The colour of blood is the same for both Hindus and Muslims. I think all Gods are one and I have been worshipping Ganesha for long. I am happy," Rehman said.
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