Muharram procession gets a Hindu welcome in Vadodara

The city, which has witnessed communal clashes of late, has been following a unique and harmonious inter-faith practice since years, in which a Hindu priest welcomes a tazia procession on the occasion of Muharram before it heads for immersion.
The practice of welcoming the Muharram procession by the priest of Bahucharaji temple, located in Karelibag, was initiated during the rule of Sayajirao Gaekwad III, who came to the throne of the erstwhile princely state of Baroda in 1875.
It is said Gaekwad used to visit the temple whenever tazia procession was carried out during his rule.
The tazia procession, which today set out from Nagearvada -Hakim area, was welcomed by the current priest of the temple Ambrish Kumar, continuing a secular tradition that has been going on since the last several decades.

The priest greeted the procession by pouring water on the tazia and broke a coconut before it, a ritual generally followed by the Hindus.
"Like our forefathers, we are keeping alive the tradition of welcoming the Muharram procession to show our reverence to Imam Husain," Kumar said.
Muharram is observed to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad.