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In Muslim-majority Blitar, villagers maintain interfaith harmony brick by brick
Residents of Muslim-majority Blitar regency in East Java have lived in harmony for a long time. Muslims and Christians in the regency's Krisik village, for instance, have been helping their Hindu neighbors in building a landslide barrier in order to save a holy temple.
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Around 200 residents of different faiths in Krisik village in Muslim-majority Blitar regency volunteer to help in the construction of a landslide barrier for a Hindu temple, Pura Agung Arga Sunya, on Saturday. (The Jakarta Post/Asip Hasani)
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t was early in the morning when Salamun rushed to Al Falah mosque in Krisik village, Blitar regency, East Java, to make an announcement on kerja bakti (community activity) to local villagers on Saturday.
Through the mosque’s loudspeaker, he called on neighbors to come together to build a 32-meter-tall landslide barrier on the slope of a hill where Pura Agung Arga Sunya – one of the three grand Hindu temples in the regency – stands.
Minutes after Salamun’s announcement, dozens of villagers from Wonorejo hamlet, one of four hamlets in the village, gathered in the mosque yard to depart together to the temple, located about 4 kilometers from the mosque.
They were apparently not the only group to participate in the activity, as Salamun and his neighbors were joined by residents of the other three hamlets, most of whom were Muslims and Christians, to help in constructing the temple’s landslide barrier.
Due to the high intensity of rainfall late last year, a landslide hit the hill at the Pura Agung Arga Sunya complex, threatening the foundation of the temple building.
Local Hindus in the village decided to raise money to construct a landslide barrier to prevent their temple from being destroyed by the natural disaster.
