In show of religious harmony, Nagapattinam villagers unite for Vinayakar Chaturthi procession

NAGAPATTINAM: Amid incidents of tension between communities, a village in the district embraces religious harmony to its maximum potential. In the village of Karuppampulam, members of the Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities joined hands to celebrate Vinayakar Chaturthi on Wednesday. Priests, community representatives and residents participated in a Visarjan procession.

This has been going on for the past 30 years. Vinayakar Chaturthi was celebrated at the Shri Chittrambalam Vinayagar Temple on Wednesday. Later in the evening, a procession began with the members of the three communities breaking a coconut.

The procession covered around three kilometres. Later, an idol was immersed in Maruthankulam. PV Rajendran, a former MP and resident of the village, organised the event. He said, "Thirty years ago, in the midst of unrest across the country with the demolition of the Babri Masjid, all the communities in the village came together to celebrate the occasion of Vinayakar Chaturthi. Minority communities were invited to take part in the event.

The collective gesture, which started that day, continues even today." A Vedarathinam, the Managing Trustee of Kasturba Gandhi Kanya Gurukulam, said, "The participation of members from all faiths shows that communal harmony is upheld in this village." Fr D Nithiya Sagayaraj, the correspondent of St Antony's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, said, "Our school was established forty years ago.

My predecessors and I have been participating in the event for several years now. We wanted to show our solidarity towards members of other communities. They had been supporting our events at various levels." Mohamed Rafiq, a representative from Vedarenyam Jamaath, said, "We have been participating in the event to show our respect to all religious faiths and towards each other."