Vadodara, May 24: The 229-year-old Quran, which was severely damaged in the July 2005 rains and had cost cricketer Yusuf Pathan’s father his job, has been partly restored with the help of Iran Embassy.
The restored version of the religious text, said to be the largest in Asia, was today handed over to the Juma Masjid today by Nabi Zade, Iranian Ambassador to India.
As per H Dymakumar, trustee of the mosque, the Quran is a rare piece with 1.90 meter length and 1.04 m breadth. It is written in Arabic and has a Persian translation.
Handwritten by Mohammed Ghosh in 1783 AD, specially prepared ‘Kajal ink’ was used for the religious book, he said.
The Quran, kept in one of the rooms in the mosque, was badly damaged due to heavy rains that had battered Baroda in 2005. The Trust running the mosque had also sacked Mohabat Khan Pathan, father of cricketers Irfan and Yusuf Pathan for his alleged failure to protect the holy book.
Pathan was then working with the mosque and stayed in one of the rooms on rent before moving to his new residence in Hajipir Ali Park on Tandlaja’s Vasna road here. Pathan had denied this charge also challenged it in court.
Meanwhile, M K Piri, Head of Cultural Centre of Iran Embassy, learnt about the damaged Quran and visited Vadodara in August 2006. He took the damaged portion to the Centre in Delhi and now after about four years has succeeded in restoring it, albeit partially.
The restored version was presented to the mosque at a function today.
Zade assured the mosque trustees to help in restoration of remaining 14 parts of the Quran.
-PTI