While Kanwadias continue to arrive in Haridwar to fetch Ganga water, members of the Muslim community too are busy preparing the multi hued decorative Kanwads for holding cans for Ganga water. These members of the Muslim community have been crafting the Kanwads for the past few decades.
Many of the Kanwads used by the pilgrims are made and decorated by the Muslim artisans in Jwalapur. To meet the demand for Kanwads, Muslim artisans, even from the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh — Saharanpur, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar, reach Haridwar city during Kanwad Mela. It is a means of livelihood for many.
Rehman Miyan from Saharanpur who has been coming here for the last five years, says, “My family comes to Haridwar about a month before the commencement of the Kanwad Mela. We earn about Rs five lakh every year by making and selling Kanwads, including costly and decorated ones”.
For many years a Muslim girl Babli living in the slum settlement Indiranagar of Jwalapur was making Kanwads with her father and mother. She is president award winner who was felicitated on account of saving two children from drowning.
“One has to work to earn two square meals a day then why not this holy Kanwad. Kanwad Mela is the time when one gets busy in crafting beautiful Kanwads for our Hindu brethren who undertake the pilgrimage. It gives me pleasure to work on these Kanwads,” says Abdul Mallik of Mohalla Kassaban of Jwalapur.
Another craftsman, Sohail Khan said, “We make both big and small Kanwads for pilgrims with price ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 8000. This has been our family business and there is a spirit of bonhomie among all. We live with Hindu brethren in same mohalla and there has never been any misunderstanding among us.”