By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : Around 110 years ago, the famous Mosque of Puranigudam was established. The mosque also sports a beautiful minar which typically attracts everyone passing through that area. Now, with the construction of the four-lane in that area going on, there was a need to demolish the century-old minar of the mosque.    But, people of Puranigudam have decided to preserve the century old minar and the two-storey minar near the NH 37 in Puranigudam is gradually being shifted from its original site with the help of modern technology. Irrespective of caste, creed or religion, all the local people in Puranigudam have come forward to protect the minar, which will be shifted 70 feet away from its original site. A Haryana-based company has been engaged in the work, which is likely to be finished within a week.    The minar was built in 1909 by a famous mason from Dhaka. The minar is made of clay and lime with no inner iron structure. Instead of cement, a paste of rice and eggs was used to construct the minar. Bamboo was used instead of steel rods in the minar. The Puranigudam mosque, established in 1909, is one of the oldest mosques in central Assam and is known as a symbol of communal harmony.The religious establishment that is situated along National Highway 37 had to be shifted after the government decided to go for four-laning of the highway.The mosque has been dismantled. “A Jorhat-based engineering group, Empirical Décor, headed by Wakil Ahmed, helped the Puranigudam villagers to find the engineering firm,” said a villager.Puranigudam, 15km from the district headquarters here, is known for its communal harmony.The area has three Muslim revenue villages and people living there maintain a close relationship with people of other religions and castes.In 1909, one Sajidur Rahman backed the villagers to construct the mosque minaret on the site, using workers from Bangladesh.A local organisation, Anjuma-e Islamiya, moved several groups in the areas for technical support to shift the minaret from its original site over the past couple of years.