Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians join shoulders at Bada Mangal in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: The first ‘Bada Mangal’, a special festival which draws thousands to Hanuman temples across the state capital is celebrated on Tuesday.

To ease off communal tensions Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians participated in Bhandara serving and reaching out to people of all faiths.

Organised by Shoulder to Shoulder (S2S) – the citizen driven initiative works for communal harmony.

“Volunteers of all religions, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and even other faiths will be coming together to serve the devotees. Even the contribution for the day has come in from people of all faiths and this is what our cultural tehzeeb in Lucknow has been,” said Asif Khan, member, S2S to Times of Inida.

 

‘Bhandaras’ have been organised at more than a thousand places across the city with people offering food, sweets and even pizzas at some places.

Devotees thronged Hanuman temples from early morning to pay obeisance to the deity and celebrated it with much fervour and gaiety.

For all the Tuesdays of the Hindu calendar month of ‘Jeth’, the Bada Mangal festival is celebrated in Lucknow and some neighbouring areas.