A Song for the Lord of the Hills

``Certainly, those that are called `Jains` today have stories that refer to Krishna, the `Sikh` Guru Granth Sahib has hundreds of mentions of `Rama` and many Muslims are quite happy to acknowledge their roots in the Indian civilization. Hundreds of Indian Muslim poets have celebrated their civilizational roots – Abdul Rahim Khan-e-khan wrote poems in praise of Rama, in Sanskrit; Justice Ismail of Chennai was the leading authority on Kamban Ramayana; Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote powerful revolutionary poetry in Bengali replete with references to Kali. In recent times, the script for the entire Mahabharata epic was written by Masoom Raza Rahi; and who can ignore the inspiration that our Gita-reading president Abdul Kalam from Rameswaram is providing to the nation.``

from http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305879

archanai is a special prayer made on behalf of an individual(s) to the temple diety by the priest. The usual question might be identity of the person(s) for whom the prayer is being implemented (as it will figure in the sanskrit incantations); maybe the purpose may also figure. this I am not too sure about. what I do know is that the archanais in south indian temples provide a mechanism for the upkeep of the temples (the devotees buy archanai tickets from the temple office). A similar system also figures in north indian temples I assume?

This article could turn out to be a hunting ground for the Purists Islamists!
But for IM it not a big issue- we have known of Bismillah Khan going to Vishwanath temple , RasKhan and so many poets have been around since centuries, Dara Shikhon to Amir KHusrau and similar other eclectics - amongst the elites, Rulers like Akbar and Wajid Ali Shah have been there who did not HATE hindus like some of the purists and ancestors of OBL because all of them had a great grasp over the hindu traditions and philosophies- which did not dilute their Iman or their understanding of Islam,
So, Abdul performing Archanai may be as trivial or as serious an issue as hamidm taking YLH to the bar for a couple of cocktails.

Good that you have concealed the real names of the muslims and used the generic abdul and salma. There are jihadis on chowk and what the indian muslims have done is straight and simple blasphemy and they will have to be killed. There was a report, of course in dawn, about a hindu being prosecuted in pakistan for making fun of a muslims beard, beard being a religious symbol.

I find this quite acceptable in India, inter-faith religious peace of the individual sort, as well as community efforts. Prime examples are religious centres inA rmed Forces areas.

My experience in Pakistan, and I was wearing t-shirts with ``Om`` on them printed word as well as symbol . . . excerpt from (unpublished) travel article on my trip to Pakistan for this and another publication . . .

````At the Sial Chowk interchange towards Sargodha, around sunset, I head towards the mosque in the rest area to pray with folded hands while our son heads for the restaurant. The Maulvi strolls up and asks me what I am doing, I tell him that I am reciting the Gayatri Mantar in my mind. He nods, waits for me to finish, and then asks me what I was praying for. I tell him I want to come back here again with my mother, so then he adds his prayer too, and requests me to come back to the same mosque if we do. I promise him I shall.



We then sit down for a wide-angle chat, where we discuss the role of Islam in Pakistan, Jihad collection boxes, Kashmir, Muslim deaths in Gujarat and East Pakistan, Ahmeddiyas, book keeping at the mosque, accountabilities in maintaining cleanliness in the area, taking responsibility for the stretch of motorway nearby, and the importance of teaching personal hygeine to people in Islam. The nett agreement is that we had better fix our acts as mature countries soon, otherwise the colonials would be back in power on both sides. Touche`.````



Random observation:- Mosques tend to be much cleaner in Pakistan than in India. One reason is the lack of commercial activity on-premises of the sort so prevalent with religious places in India. A supari/paan chewing hulk of a man is summarily despatched by the Maulvi to wash his mouth and he complies meekly. The wash-up area is spotless. The colours used are subdued greys and browns, and the architecture is modern and airy. Many of the religious places I know of in India, by contrast, have problems with their accounts, governing councils and often seem to be haphazard commercial centres.

Ramnarayan

(Abdul who performed an archanai as he had done many times before, sidestepped the priest`s usual question as he always did, by saying, ``Please do it in Swami`s (the lord`s) name.``)

What is archanai ? And what is the usual question?

Just for my knowledge.