Gwalior: Giving reconciliation and out of court settlement a religious touch, locals in Hastinapur town of Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior are settling their disputes at Lord Hanuman's temple housed within the premises of a police station. The deity's expertise at mediation and reconciliation has earned it the sobriquet 'Samjhauta Wale Hanuman Ji'.
A unique display of faith in Lord Rama's devotee Hanuman is witnessed at Hastinapur town, located about 35 km from Gwalior district headquarters of Madhya Pradesh.
Whenever there is a dispute in Hastinapur, the aggrieved party reaches the police in the hope of help, but there are many people who come to the temple of 'Samjhauta Wale Hanuman ji' situated in the same police station premises in Hastinapur. The faith and belief of the people in the deity is so strong that they don't lie in front of Lord Hanuman, which enables police in resolving the disputes.
8-year-old dispute resolved within minutes
About a hundred disputes have been settled at the 'Samjhauta Wale Hanuman Ji temple built in the Hastinapur police station premises. These include years-old disputes as well.
SDOP Behat, Santosh Patel of Behat said that eight years ago, Shivraj Gurjar and Ram Lakhan Gurjar, residents of Chhondi village, had a dispute over the boundary of their fields, where a fight also took place between the two parties turning it into a family feud. The two parties have come face to face many times in the last eight years as per Patel. He said that the petty boundary dispute turned into a bloody conflict with people injured and cases also registered.
On the initiative of the villagers, the police called both the parties to convince them and a panchayat was held at Hanuman temple.
“There was a discussion in the court of Hanuman ji about the losses suffered by the parties during all these years and both the parties understood this. The dispute ended with the warring parties hugging each other and the enmity was also ended by reconciling at the police station," Patel said.
Fight between two brothers ended by touching the feet
In yet another heartwarming reconciliation at the 'Samjhauta Wale Hanuman Temple', two brothers entangled in a domestic dispute, also buried the hatchet before the deity.
SDOP Santosh Patel said that when the two brothers were called to the Hanuman temple to reach a compromise, they “could not lie in the court of God”.
“As a result, both the brothers ended their dispute and the younger one touched the elder one's feet and reconciled with him,” the SDOP added.
'People afraid to lie in front of God'
Behat SDOP Santosh Patel says that the temple of Lord Hanuman under the banyan tree in the Hastinapur police station premises is turning out to be a centre of reconciliation.
The police station in-charge and staff here have taken the initiative to resolve many old disputes, he said.
“When both the parties are called and talked to in the temple, its effect is visible, because people who believe in God feel that God is always watching you. It would be wrong to sit in the temple and talk about injustice or lie. This can also do wrong to them. That is why they start speaking the truth,” Patel said.
“When a person tells the truth, the police make both the parties sit and talk to resolve the dispute. When the matter is resolved, a compromise is made here. Both the parties hug each other and the younger one also touches the elder's feet. Considering God as a witness, they take an oath to never have any kind of dispute with each other in the future."
Story behind the temple's sobriquet
As the temple emerged as the centre to resolve people's disputes, it gained the trust of the locals, who gave the deity the sobriquet 'Samjhauta Wale Hanuman' (Lord Hanuman of reconciliation). About three months ago, on the demand of the people, a board with this name was also installed outside the temple. SDOP Patel said that many disputes are resolved at the temple every day.
The SDOP said that people from other areas are also turning to the temple to resolve their long pending disputes through reconciliation. Patel believes that everyone wants to get justice without any trouble. “And if that justice is in front of God, then what can be better than this?”
SDOP Patel said, "If this is not faith, then what else can we call it?” “When there is a dispute, people go to the police and keeping the feelings of the people in mind, the police also helps in resolving these disputes in front of Hanumanji who makes compromises, because it is also true that by resolving, even threads get untangled and by complicating, people only get entangled. These relationships are such that if they are not resolved on time, these relationships get ruined," he said.
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