Religious harmony has been the staple of the Indian way of life
all through the ages. A temple near Bhopal is a living testimony
to this. Dating back to 1845, the Shyam Kaka temple complex near
Narsinghgarh, about 100 kms from Bhopal, has a panel depicting
Muslim men offering the Legend has it that it was built by
Bhagali Devi, queen of Shyam Dev Khinchi, a Rajput ruler of the
Khinchi clan. But how the unique temple panel came into being is
another story. When the temple was under construction, six Arabs
had come visiting. They got into an argument with the head
priest, Amara Singh Gurjar, and stressed the superiority of
their faith over others, according to Saajan Singh Gurjar, the
present priest and a descendant of Amara Singh Gurjar. “The
visitors insisted that Mecca and Medina were the holiest places
on earth. In response, Amara Singh offered to take them to the
two holy cities without moving a step away. Incredulous, the
Arab visitors challenged the priest to do so,” adds Gurjar. What
followed, according