Hindus and Muslims come together to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti in Pune

Hindus and Muslims in Maharashtra’s Pune came together and celebrated Hanuman Jayanti on Saturday and advocated living in communal harmony.

Against the backdrop of communal clashes in parts of the country and opposition to loudspeakers outside mosques, Hindus and Muslims in Maharashtra’s Pune came together and celebrated Hanuman Jayanti on Saturday.

Muslims participating in aarti on Hanuman Jayanti in the city’s Sakhlipir Taleem Rashtriya Maruti Mandir is an annual ritual. In fact, the temple is named after Sakhlipir baba and his dargah is also on the premises.

“We celebrate all festivals together. We do this to send message to our youth that they too have to live in communal harmony,” said Atik Sayed, who came to the temple at around 6 am. He helped in decorating the temple before aarti, along with several other Muslim residents of Nana Peth

Yusuf Shaikh, another resident of Nana Peth, said that some of his friends mock him for visiting temple. “I tell them that I am Muslim at heart and a tilak on my forehead will not change that,” he said.

Asked about the political furore over removing loudspeakers from mosques, he added, “The controversy over loudspeakers outside mosque is not right. We have to take things positively rather than giving them negative connotation.”

Ravindra Malvatkar, President of Sakhlipir Taleem Rashtriya Maruti Mandir, said the upkeep of the dargah is done by a Hindu. “

"People who don’t have a mosque around their house are complaining about azaan. We have four mosques in our area and people from all communities live in harmony. So it’s a needless controversy to disturb the peace,” said Malvatkar.