‘Hindus built places of worship and Muslims built temples’ 250 years ago this is how our ancestors understood brotherhood and love. – Read

Uttar Pradesh has always been giving the message of mutual harmony and peace. Be it the Mahavir Temple and Pandain Mosque located in the capital Lucknow or the Lakshmi-Narayan Temple and Budh Masjid of Bareilly, these buildings give the message of keeping people bound in mutual love and unity. The special thing is that those who built these temples were Muslims and those who built mosques were from the Hindu community. Even today people feel relaxed after seeing these places of worship.

‘Smile, you are in Lucknow…’ Please smile completely and smile brightly. This is Lucknow, the city of literature. Where people give way by saying ‘you first’. This city has been giving the message of peace for many centuries. Here is the famous Mahavir temple built by Begum Alia. The Bhandara held on Bade Mangal is a symbol of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan. Pandine Mosque located in Aminabad, Lucknow is a monument built by a Hindu Begum. Every building in this city was kept away from the religious walls.

On fulfillment of her wish, Begum Alia built Mahavir Temple.

Mahavir Temple located in Aliganj, Lucknow was constructed on 6 June 1783. This ancient temple was built by Begum Alia, mother of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan. The story of its construction is very interesting. According to historian Dr. Yogesh Praveen’s book Lucknownama, Begum Alia had no children. Someone had advised him to worship Lord Hanuman on Tuesday in the ancient temple of Lucknow. Begum Alia did the same. Then she gave birth to a son, that day was Mars.

This son of Begum Alia was Nawab Saadat Ali Khan. The temple where Begum Aliya had prayed was quite dilapidated. Keeping this in view he had constructed Mahavir Temple. It is also said that Begum Alia came to know in her dream that the idol of Lord Hanuman was buried. She reached the place where she had her dream. There an idol buried in the ground was found, which was taken out and a temple was built at the same place.

Brahmin woman built Pandain Mosque

Pandine Mosque located in Aminabad area of ​​Lucknow is a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity as well as friendship. According to historians, this grand mosque was built in the 18th century. It was built by Brahmin woman Rani Jai Kunwar Pandey for her dear friend Khadija Khanum. Khadija Khanum was the wife of the first Nawab of Awadh, Amin Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk. Rani Jai Kunwar Pandey was the owner of Aminabad. She was a close friend of the Begum of the then Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan. Their friendship was so deep that they built this mosque as a gift to their friend Khadija Khanum.

Chunnu Mian’s contribution to the Lakshmi-Narayan temple of Bareilly

Bareilly of Uttar Pradesh is a city of peace and mutual brotherhood. It is also called Nath Nagari and Bareilly Sharif. There are holy places of all religions here. The identity of this city is on the world stage. Sufi elder Ala Hazrat Dargah is famous all over the world. There are seven holy Nath temples here. There is also a Lakshmi-Narayan temple among them. This temple located in Katra Manrai of the city is a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. To build it, the city’s rich man Fazrul Rehman alias Chunnu Mian donated his land and money along with labour.

It is said that after independence, Sindhi, Hindu and Punjabi families who came from the borders of partition had settled in Katra Manrai of Bareilly. Without asking Chunnu Mian, he built a place of worship on his land. The matter reached the court. Later Chunnu Mian changed his mind and donated that land for the temple. Not only this, he also donated money and labor to build the temple. The foundation stone of this temple was laid by the first President of the country, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Even today the descendants of Chunnu Mian come to this temple.

Sharma family takes care of Budh Masjid

The hundreds of years old mosque in Naya Tola near Qutubkhana Road, Bareilly is giving the message of mutual brotherhood. A large number of Hindu devotees also come here along with the Namazis. When crowd of people gathered on Wednesday, it came to be known as Budh Masjid. This temple is looked after by the Sharma family living there. Family member Sanjay Sharma had told the media that about 100 years ago the mosque was unbuilt, in front of which his ancestors used to live.

Pandit Dashiram had no children among them. One day he prayed for a child in the mosque, which was accepted. They had a son, named Pandit Dwarika Prasad. He collected donations for the mosque and got it confirmed. Since then his family has been taking care of this mosque. Now it is not that such places of worship are only in Lucknow and Bareilly. These are in your city too! Find them and feel at ease there.