MALAPPURAM: Sending out a message of religious harmony, two Muslims in the district have come to the aid of a 500-year-old Hindu temple that lacked proper accessibility by donating land for the construction of a road.
C H Aboobacker Haji and M Usman, residents of Koottilangadi panchayat, have handed over four cents of land to the panchayat that will construct the 60-metre road with 10-feet width for Koottilangadi Kadungooth Mahadeva Temple. Authorities said the road will be built soon using panchayat and MLA funds. Local residents cleared the thick vegetation covering the area last Sunday.
Rahoof Koottilangadi, a former panchayat member, said some people tried to create a rift in society citing the road issue. “The temple didn’t have any proper road. Some people had even run a hate campaign on social media intending to a create rift,” he said. In order to protect communal harmony, a meeting of the panchayat authorities, revenue officials, Malabar Devaswom Board authorities and the residents under the chairmanship of Mankada MLA Manjalamkuzhi Ali was held recently.
During the meeting, the land owners Aboobacker and Usman agreed to hand over some portions of their land for the road, Rahoof said. Meanwhile, the temple is getting ready for renovation at a cost of Rs 1 crore. “As part of the plan, the Malabar Dewaswom Board has allotted Rs 10 lakh. The temple owns some more land in the area. The matter related to the land has been brought before the notice of the Malappuram district collector,” said dewaswom inspector Dinesh C C.