B'deshi Muslims seek Modi's help to build 300-year-old Kali temple

THE 300-year-old Sasan Kali temple at Basurdhuljhuri village in Bangladesh’s Magura district — 176 km from Dhaka — was partly washed away in 2000 floods. Today, Muslims and Hindus have come together to rebuild it and want the Bangladesh and the Indian governments to help them, reports The Print.

In a Bangladesh that is increasingly witnessing communal violence, especially during Hindu festivities, Basurdhuljhuri serves to strengthen the country’s secular credentials.

Kali’s call

Every year this season, Dhaka-based political journalist Sahidul Hasan Khokon makes it a point to drive back to Basurdhuljhuri, his native village, for Kali puja at the 300-year-old temple. The entire village, along with the likes of Khokon who migrated to big cities, gather before Kali.

Lakhs of devotees visit this non-descript temple every year with the belief that the goddess will grant them their wishes. This year will be different — the village and the devotees will offer back to the Kali. Khokon and his friends plan to form a committee to restore the temple to its original glory.

“There was a big flood in 2000 that washed away many houses in the village and destroyed a part of the temple. Villagers managed to save the Kali idol. Now, we plan to form a committee and formally appeal to both the Bangladesh and Indian governments to help us build a proper temple in the village,” Khokon, 43, tells ThePrint.

Currently, the Kali resides in a one-storied brick structure with a tin roof and a grilled gate inside an empty patch of land.

“It may look unappealing but every year during Kali puja, lakhs of devotees not just from Basurdhuljhuri but all across Magura and beyond come here to offer prayers. Ma Kali doesn’t let any of her devotees leave empty-handed. What they wish for comes true,” says Asim Ray, the village doctor, sitting in the courtyard of his house, a stone’s throw away from the temple.

There was no Kali puja in 2001, the year after the flood. But the very next year, Muslim neighbours pooled money and resources to help the Hindus of the village construct a makeshift temple.

“Our Hindu brothers and sisters believe the Kali idol is jagroto (alive) and we need to build her a proper temple,” says Khokon. Though Khokon has relocated to Dhaka, he played a big role in getting funds to build the temple in 2001.