Musalmari Mallapur, a small village in Gokak taluk, is known for its tradition of maintaining communal harmony. The village is celebrating the Grama Devi annual car festival, that sees Hindus and Muslims participating with equal fervour.
The festival is inaugurated by the Desai family, who follow the Muslim faith.
As the largest land owners in the village, they have the first right to Honnata, the lifting of the palanquin of the goddess. They also present the temple with a set of rice, jaggery cakes, blouse pieces, bangles and vermilion. They also lead the procession.
Men and women of the family carry a bamboo basket with the rice and other materials to the temple. The women stand in silence as the pujari breaks coconuts and clothes the deity. The men later join the villagers in shifting the idol from the main temple to a makeshift temple created for the jatra. The Desai brothers carry the palanquin for some distance before passing it to others. Imam Saab Desai holds an important position in the jatra committee and plans the event. Various religious rituals are performed for seven days and end on Monday.
Roles are reversed during the Urs of the Madar Sab Dargah, considered the village patron saint. The Urs, or death anniversary is celebrated two weeks after Muharram. The Patil family patriarch Srikanth Gouda is an office bearer of the Urs committee and organises the celebrations.
Village elders say this has been the tradition for centuries. “We don’t know what the reasons behind these traditions are. But they have never been broken,” Vasant Patil, a writer from the village, said.
Another resident Basa Gouda Mallapur claims the village has never witnessed communal riots. Even at times where other villages or towns were witnessing such violent incidents, our village remained peaceful. We have protected each other in trying times, he said.
