Telangana: Muslim family in Khammam sets up Ganesh pandal

Shaik Mohammed has been setting up the Ganesh pandal at his own expense for the last couple years along with his father Babu Lal, wife Tasleema, uncle Abdul Majeed and other family members at the sixth block of KCR Towers

Khammam: A Muslim man and his family in Khammam have set an example for communal harmony by organising Ganesh Navaratri celebrations.

Shaik Mohammed, a resident of KCR Towers – a housing complex of the State government’s double bedroom houses at Tekulapally, is the man who has been spreading the message of brotherhood and religious harmony by his deeds.

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He has been setting up the Ganesh pandal at his own expense for the last couple years along with his father Babu Lal, wife Tasleema, uncle Abdul Majeed and other family members at the sixth block of KCR Towers.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Mohammed said he wanted to spread the message of religious harmony and all his family members support him. He established the Ganesh Maharaj Utsav Committee with his family members as members to organise the celebrations.

Recently a few youths at KCR Towers have shown interest to join him in organising the festival. All his family members actively participate in puja rituals during the festival. Rituals like kumkuma pooja and Saraswathi puja are being performed traditionally and with devotion, he said.

Mohammed said he also conducts annadanam during the festival. This is the second time he organised Ganesh festival at the towers and this time, the Ganesh idol was donated by a donor G Balaraj while another donor Tupakula Srinu has sponsored a tractor for the ‘Shobayatra’

“I prefer spending my own money in organising the celebrations, but if donors come forward with the donations we accept their contributions,” he said. Last year a donor Mohammed Javeed arranged for annadanam, he informed.

The residents who belong to Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities are living amicably at the towers and celebrate the festival together. Since ages Telangana has been known for communal harmony and we follow that, he noted.

Mohammed, who runs a mutton shop and is engaged in the real estate sector, said he wishes Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities in the country to live together in a brotherly manner. It is sad that people fight with each other over religions and do not understand divine unity, he added.