Kerala mosque hosts and pays for Hindu wedding

The couple could not pay for their wedding, which will now take place on 19 January at the Cheruvally Muslim Jamaat Mosque in Kayamkulam with a vegetarian banquet for a thousand guests paid by the mosque committee. Kerala is a symbol of interfaith harmony.


New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A mosque in Kerala has decided to open its gates and wallet for the wedding of a Hindu couple, Anju and Sarath Sasi.

The Cheruvally Muslim Jamaat Mosque in Kayamkulam, Alappuzha district, will be the venue for the Hindu ceremony on 19 January. A vegetarian wedding banquet will be organised for about a thousand guests.

Mosque committee secretary Nujumuddin Alummoottil said he received a request for help from Bindhu, Anju’s mother, about two months ago. The family has been struggling economically since the death of her father, Ashokan, in 2018.

As wedding costs are higher, the request for funds was passed on to the committee, which agreed to help the family.

The wedding will be performed at an auspicious time, between 11.30am and 12.30 pm, in front of the mosque. A large shamiana will be set up under a tent.

To help the young couple start married life, the mosque also decided to make a cash donation of 200,000 rupees (US$ 2,800) to the groom and gold jewellery to the bride.

The Indian state of Kerala stands out as an example of interfaith harmony at a time when India is marked by sectarian conflicts following the amendment of the country’s citizenship legislation, which excludes Muslim applicants.

Last week, the St Thomas Church in Kothamangalam opened its doors to Muslims returning from a day of protests against the legislation for evening prayers.

The wedding will follow Hindu rite, the committee secretary explained.

When news of the wedding was posted online, the committee received many thank you notes. However, fake news also appeared claiming that the couple planned to convert to Islam. This is not true, Alummoottil insisted. Those who spread hatred must be ignored, noted.