15 years after surviving communal riots, Muslim artist crafts idol for Hindu temple

It's a heartwarming story of overcoming adversity and rising above religion.

A 29-year-old Muslim man hailing from the once riot-stricken Indian city of Ahmedabad, now has an idol crafted by him installed inside a Hindu temple, The Times of India reports.

Mohsin Shaikh, who was 14 when communal strife engulfed Ahmedabad in the summer of 2002, grew up crafting chalk and graphite idols of Hindu deities. One of his idols of Lord Shiva, a popular Hindu God, has been set up in a city temple.

Some of his other works that include a statue of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who hails from Ahmedabad coincidentally) are also displayed around the city.

Shaikh's story is significant because India has traditionally been a religion-sensitive society.

Even heavyweights like Amazon couldn't escape the wrath of its citizens when there was mass outrage over doormats with faces of Hindu Gods being sold on the platform.

There was also an outcry over British band Coldplay's Hymn for the Weekend music video that some Indians reckoned was amounting to cultural appropriation.

And of course, there was Pokémon Go, the augmented-reality game that allegedly hurt religious sentiments by showing eggs in places such as temples.

Hence, Shaikh's feat is inspiring. He surely knows how to "spread love" in times of religious intolerance.

"I do not discriminate on the basis of religion. Whether you worship in a temple or in a mosque, ultimately it is like a hunger that must be satisfied. In my case, it is hunger of art. Chalk sticks are a weapon for me to exhibit my art and to spread love," he said.