Ever heard of a religion having a priest from another religion? Usually, temples, churches and mosques have priests that belong to the same faith as that of the religious place. However, India has a beautiful example of communal harmony in one of its cities in western geography. Basically, India is a country where communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims had existed since many years.
But in Jodhpur – in the province of Rajasthan – lies a temple dedicated to Goddess Durga and being served by a Muslim priest. Yes, you heard that correct! A Muslim worshipping a Hindu goddess. That sounds impossible on so many fronts. Yet the beautiful spectacle of religious harmony and communal coexistence serves as a stark example of how a society should function through collaboration and inclusion, rather than friction.
The story of the Muslim priest is also equally intriguing. Jamaluddin Khan – the current priest in the temple – is the 13th generation priest belonging to a family that had been serving at this temple for 600 years. Almost six centuries ago, his forefathers had migrated from Sindh region (now in Pakistan) to India because of severe drought conditions in their homeland. On their way, the legs of their two camels broke because of which they were left stranded in the arid deserted areas without water and food. With nowhere to go and help coming from nowhere, his forefathers were staring at imminent death. However, on one night, Goddess Durga appeared in one of the forefathers’ dreams and guided him to a stepwell nearby. The goddess also instructed him to retrieve an idol of herself from the depths of the stepwell.
Paying regards to the goddess, those Muslim travelers began to worship the idol and have over the past 600 years carried on the tradition of being the only Muslim priest family that worships a Hindu deity in a temple.
Isn’t that amazing? Comment below on how you feel about the story.
