What happened when a Muslim woman found a temple near her home?

mangaloretoday.com

Mandsaur, October 13:  Sughra Bi, a 45-year-old day labourer has been living with her family in Indra Colony of Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district for a decade. It was about three years ago the Muslim woman discovered a temple near her house. It was in ruins and no one knew about it.

"After I discovered the temple, I decided to rebuild it. So I brought the people of colony together and everyone contributed Rs. 2 each. With that money we rebuilt the temple," she said.

 

"Now all Hindus and Muslim together take care of the temple and even celebrate Navratri here. Religion does not make a distinction among us so why should we? Durga Ma is considered mother of the world. This is why I decided to rebuild this temple," says Sughra Bi.

The temple and the efforts by the villagers to look after it together have brought the communities closer in the nondescript colony in the Madhya Pradesh countryside.

The colony has a temple committee with both Hindu and Muslim members. Every morning and evening, an aarti at the Sheetla Mata temple is attended by both Hindus and Muslims.

"The condition of the temple was bad. Aapa brought us together and with everybody’s contribution we rebuilt it. In the evening aarti, Hindus and Muslims come to attend it. It feels good," Bheru Lal, a resident of the village, tells NDTV.

Babu Amjad, another a resident of Indra Colony, says, "The environment of our colony is very good. We all live together in peace and harmony. We visit temple and during Moharram. We distribute sherbet over there."