By Vivek Tripathi

Gonda, Dec 10 (IANS): Being the birthplace of Lord Ram, Ayodhya is considered a holy city for Hindus but Lord Hanuman here in Hanumangarhi gets decorated with the flowers brought by a man, who is actually a Muslim.

Moreover, his wife daily prepares a garland especially to be worn by "Hanumanji".

Nazim Ali along with his family lives in Wazirganj development block at Gonda-Ayodhya highway in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. The entire family is engaged in cultivating flowers.

The flowers grown at Nazim's garden later reach Ayodhya to adorn different Hindu deities.

Though a dark face of the history is that Ayodhya is known worldwide as a "bone of contention" between Hindus and Muslims but a positive aspect that only a few people know of is the gods and goddesses in Ayodhya's temples daily accept flowers and garlands wrapped in Hindus' faith but brought from Muslims' gardens.

"We are cultivating marigold and rose flowers for around 25 years. Earlier, my father (Abba) used to send flowers for Hanumangarhi and since I have taken over the business, I send my flowers everyday without fail," Ali told IANS.

"Apart from Hanumangarhi, people offer our flowers at Ram Lalla, Nageshwarnath and other temples in Ayodhya," he added.

"Garlands prepared by my wife Chunni always reach around the necks of the gods," Ali said.

Describing his business, Ali said: "We use to sell the bundles of flowers in Gonda, Ayodhya and Lucknow from where they are transported to Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai, Haryana and other parts of the country".

"We don't get any aid from the administration. Our maximum crop is being consumed in Ayodhya only," he said.

Ali said: "If the government provides some assistance only then our life would improve by doing the cultivation on a large scale".