KASARGOD: It was past 8.00 pm and K Damodharan Molothingal was digging up the road to remove an iron entrance arch of Bilal Masjid at Kuniya. His friends M V Thamban and T V Ramakrishnan were helping him in the act. In some other place, they could have been perceived as vandals and landed in trouble.
But not in Kuniya in Pullur-Periya panchayat of Kasaragod district. They have helped build a new bigger concrete arch which may look amusing in today's times but also has the potential to become a symbol of hope and harmony.
The arch -- which can be seen from the National Highway 66 -- bears the sacred Om symbol on the left pillar and the star and crescent on the right pillar.
The arch is the common entrance for Bilal Masjid at Meethal Kuniya and Mahavishnu Temple at Ayambara. The temple and the mosque pooled in Rs 2.5 lakh each to build the common arch on the Kuniya-Ayambara Road, said Molothingal, president of the Mahavishnu Temple's committee in Dubai.
"The common arch did not come up to instil harmony in society. It came up because there is a camaraderie among people cutting across religions," said Abdul Khader, the khateeb or Friday preacher of Kuniya Juma Masjid.
Molothingal agreed. "When the temple takes out a procession during the festival, the members of the mosque hold a reception and give snacks and lemon juice," he said.
Likewise on Milad un-Nabi, when the members of the mosque take out a procession to mark the Prophet's birth anniversary, the temple members hold a reception, said Khader.
When the Kuniya Juma Masjid was renovated last year, the khateeb invited members from other communities and made the inaugural function a get-together of society.
Last March, when the Dubai committee of the Mahavishnu temple proposed to build a new arch, the members of the temple's Ayambara committee said any new structure should come up only in consultation with the Bilal Masjid committee, said Molothumgal.
"There is a story behind that," he said.
Twenty years ago, Muslims of Meethal Kuniya under the leadership of C M Abubakker build the Bilal Masjid. For the inauguration, the members set up a low-cost iron arch at the entrance of Kuniya-Ayambara road. But Abubakkar insisted the arch should also mention the Mahavishnu temple, known locally as Uralamkodi Temple.
"They did it without asking the temple committee," said Molothumgal. He said the Bilal Masjid committee could have just ignored the temple before it was 1km away and the mosque was only 300m from the arch.
The gesture of the Bilal Masjid committee 20 years ago is still fresh on the minds of the temple goers, he said. "So when we proposed a new arch last March, the temple committee asked us to get in touch with the Bilal Masjid committee," he said.
The two committees sat together and a new arch committee was formed with Abdul Khader Sa-adhi as the chairman and K Narayanan Vaniyan Vallappy as the convener. Now the arch is ready. "We are giving it a final touch. The arch will be inaugurated in 10 days," said Molothumgal.