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Hindus, Muslims pray for rains in Patna

     Patna: Following a delayed monsoon, people in Bihar have turned anxious and want the God to bless them with rains. On Saturday, various Hindus and Muslims held special prayers to invoke divine powers of the Rain Gods who, they believe, have decided to give the region a miss. Residents said while incessant rains are lashing western parts of the country disrupting normal life, it played truant here. Many Hindus participated in a Yajna, or the holy fire ritual whereas members of the Muslim community offered Namaz for rains. Priests chanted shloka and hymns that reverberated in the entire vicinity during the Yajna ceremony. "We are pleasing the rain God by offering this prayer. We are praying here in a hope that the rain God accepts our wish and grants us with rain. This rain will bring smile on the faces of the farmers and would help bringing back greenery in the state," said Prakash Malakar, a Hindu priest. Members of the Muslim community, took part in prayer session and said they had full faith that the Gods would be pleased and rains would soon touch not only Bihar but other parched lands as well. "The intense heat and lack of rain is not only causing serious problems to the people of Bihar but to other states as well. We wish that Allah blesses not only Bihar with rains but also the other drought hit regions," said Mohammad Kalimuddin, a Muslim priest. The delay in the arrival of monsoon is becoming a cause of concern for the masses especially farmers, as nearly two-thirds of agriculture depend on the rains and two-thirds of the population is dependent on agriculture. The Meteorological Department has said that the total rainfall from the crucial June-September monsoon would be 93 percent of the long-term average, coming in below normal for the first time in four years.
-June 27, 2009