Ever since the release of the film The Kerala Story, social media has been abuzz with stories of communal harmony and unity from the state of Kerala. This is our initiative to highlight some of these stories.
Right in the busiest corner of Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram, in a place called Palayam, is a temple, a mosque, and a church on either side of the street. The church with Jesus Christ’s golden statue on top stands on one side of the road, while on the opposite side is a Juma Mosque sharing a wall with a Ganapathy temple. It is a famous spot quoted many times in stories and essays about Kerala, to showcase the communal harmony that exists so quietly in the state. Now, with happy stories about Kerala and its communal harmony spreading across the internet, people are sharing photos and posts about the Palayam spot, and discovering more such places.
Across the state, there are quite a few examples of places of worship of different faiths sharing walls and friendship. In Kozhikode, a Siva temple and a mosque have been sharing the same wall for over five decades. The Sree Hamsakulangara Meledathu Siva Temple and the Badr Juma Mosque are on either side of a boundary wall in a place called Kattilapeedika, on the Kozhikode-Kannur highway. A Telegraph story reported on how they went a step further – when the temple needed extra space for elephants to go around the shrine for a ritual, the mosque authorities allowed the extension free of cost.
In 2020, when Hindu extremists destroyed a church set built for the movie Minnal Murali saying that it was too close to a temple, another example of a temple and a mosque coexisting came to light. A Twitter user shared the photo of a Krishna temple in Aluva sharing a wall with the Settu Jama Masjid nearby.
Bajrag Dal goons destroyed a movie set in Kalady manapuram that looks like a church cuz they claimed it hurt their religious sentiments.
— Arya (@RantingDosa) May 25, 2020
This is the entrance to the Aluva Sri Krishna swami temple and settu jama masjid. They share ONE WALL.
This is our culture. pic.twitter.com/s7LFd792rJ