NEW DELHI: If you drop by the Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place on Tuesday mornings, an unusual sight will greet you: a group of four Sikh men will be seen sweeping and cleaning and mopping away the garbage and filth in front of the temple in an effort to keep the area clean.
Why would Sikh men — they are between 27 and 31 years of age — launch a cleanliness drive outside a temple, you might wonder. Ask Manjot Singh, one of the group members. “A place of worship does not have any boundaries of religion. It is supposed to be clean and we are doing our bit to help it stay clean,” he says.
Manjot says he and his teammates – all childhood friends and now businessmen – wouldn’t mind starting similar cleanliness drives outside churches and mosques if they had the manpower. His teammates are Prabhjot Singh, Rajinder Singh and Harpreet Sidhu.
The group tries to clean the area every Tuesday morning as the chola ceremony takes place on Monday night, says Manjot. “We try our best to come here every week but sometimes, due to our schedules, it is not possible. I urge people to come forward and join us. Keeping the religious angle aside, cleaner surroundings are more pleasing to the eye,” he adds.
The drive has drawn praise from Rajouri Garden MLA Manjinder Singh Birsa. “Sikh guys cleaning the exteriors of Hanuman Mandir in Delhi. An exemplary act to reflect on our brotherhood and commitment to make a #CleanerIndia,” he has said in a Facebook post.
The priest of the temple, however, has a different take. “We, as the temple authorities, do our best to keep the surroundings clean. It is good that people from other communities are helping us. A cleaner temple will only attract more devotees,” he says.
Devotees coming to the temple are also all praises for the foursome’s selfless service. “In our house, we keep the puja room spick and span but when we come here, there is garbage and dirt everywhere.
I am glad that someone has taken the initiative. We, as devotees, should lend them a helping hand and vow to keep the premises of the temple clean,” Amita Dubey, a 48-year-old woman, said.