MAYAPUR: Inside a sprawling carpeted room within the temple complex of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), some 165 Muslim villagers sat patiently on their chairs. Hindu volunteers of the temple busied themselves setting tables for them.Plates laden with fruit, snacks and sweet meats, and glasses full of fruit juice and sherbets were kept ready.

As prayer leader Saiful Islam signaled the end of the day’s Ramadan fasting period, Muslims picked up dates to break fast. At the conclusion of Iftar, the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast, the Muslims also offered their evening prayers inside the temple complex of Chandroday Mandir, Mayapur, some 130 kilometers north of Kolkata.

“Many local Muslims are involved with our day to day activities in the temple. They supply materials required in our temple rituals. We employ them for construction and many other works in which they are experts. They are our neighbors, our brothers,” Das said.

Read more: Communal Harmony