AMARNATH CAVE TEMPLE - MUSLIMS DISTRIBUTING PRASAD IN A  HINDU TEMPLE

With one more standing example of peaceful co-existence, I wish to make the arc come to full circle, and it is going on from time immemorial at it. It is in Amarnath temple, in the state of Kashmir. Here Muslims are enjoying certain rights and they alone are entrusted with the holy privilege of distributing Lord's prasad to the devotees. What an honour! And how noble is the tradition!! It is peerless and timeless.

And this Prasad is distributed by Mohammadans of Batkut village, whose share in making the journey enjoyable during halts at several places and service at every step are beyond description. Distribution of prasad by Muslims in a Hindu shrine is very odd, and can be deemed a rarity of rarities. Yet, it is going on for centuries. This practice is rooted in a strange myth. Once, as the story goes, a Muslim shepherd by name Buta Malik was given a sack of coal by a sadhu out of love for his pious living. When opened it in the house that night he found it in pieces of gold. Overjoyed Muslim went to the spot to thank him for the fortune given. But he found a cave, and when he went inside, he found the snowlinga. He started worshipping it with great fervor, thinking that Siva alone conferred that favour. And others followed him for bliss and fortune. And they obtained. In course of time it became a place of pilgrimage. As it was discovered and popularized by him, his descendants are given a percentage of donations even to day.

Perfect understanding and mutual regard, if exist between these two opposing groups, heaven itself dispatches love, and harmony to the extent of depletion of the whole stock, and they themselves descend to live amidst them. Sooner this is realised greater is the peace in the world.

Location : The temple lies in Amarnath Cave, accessible by walk and bus from Srinagar, Kashmir.

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