Hyderabad: At a time when several incidents intended to disturb communal harmony are reported from across the country, the Akkanna Madanna temple in the Old City stands as an interesting example of universal brotherhood and Hyderabad’s ‘Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb’.
The Bonalu festivities are incomplete at the Akkanna Madanna temple if the temple committee doesn’t make an offering at a small dargah located in front of the historic temple. As a practice, the dargah is painted and lit up with fairy lights by the temple authorities during Bonalu. The temple authorities also offer a chadar at the dargah.
Temple committee joint secretary P. Kranti Kumar said, “We give the dargah a coat of green paint when the temple is getting painted. During the 10-day Bonalu celebrations, we offer a chadar. The dargah is located exactly opposite the temple, so we take care of it. Occasionally, a Muslim woman comes and cleans up the place; rest of the time we do it ourselves.”
The committee has asked its personnel who take care of the cleanliness of temple premises to ensure that surroundings of the shrine are kept clean too. “They do it regularly without fail. It is as much of a devotional duty for them to clean the dargah as it is to clean the temple,” said Mr Kranti Kumar.
A couple of days ago home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy offered a chadar at the shrine on behalf of the temple committee.
Temple committee member G. Niranjan cited another example of communal harmony. “The elephant which carries the ‘ghatam’ is being provided by the Nizam Trust for several years. The elephant Rajani is also used for carrying the Bibi-ka-Alam,” he said.
