Bengaluru: In an emphatic exhibition of India’s communal harmony, a Muslim man in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, has built a Hindu temple for Koragajja. 

P Qasim Sahib, 65 years old, hails from Kerala and has been offering worship at the temple for the last 19 years. 

When he was going through difficult times, he was advised to build a temple for the demigod. So as per the advice, he built one on a small piece of land, which is very near to his house. 
As quoted by Times of India, Sahib recalls, "After I built a house on land allotted by the gram panchayat 35 years ago, I ran into a few problems. The darshana paatri of the village said Koragajja was earlier worshipped near my house. Hence, I decided to start worshipping Koragajja and other daivas here”.

Very close to his house, he found a small shrine in a state of neglect. "I renovated that temple with offerings made by devotees. While nitya deepa and puja rituals are offered daily, special pujas are held once a month," he added. 

It is also interesting to note that Sahib turned vegetarian from the day he started offering pujas at the shrine. "My children go to the masjid and they also believe in Koragajja and other Hindu deities. I stopped going to the masjid because I get darshana (possession of deity) of Koragajja," he says. 

Every day, several devotees visit the temple and offer prayers. With a population of 1500 devotees, everyone visits the temple irrespective of their castes and creeds.