About an hour's drive from Mangalore is the village of Elyar, near the foot of the Western Ghat mountain range.
Many of the villagers in Elyar are Muslim
Coconut trees dot the landscape amid rice fields and banana plantations.
But the real income comes from the lucrative spice trade with cinnamon, cardamom, aniseed and cashews grown here.
Many of the villagers are Muslim - like Christianity, Islam first entered India through the south-west, with Arabian traders setting foot here more than 1,000 years ago.
Many Muslim women, veiled in black, line up to vote - women outnumber men in this region.
They lift their veils for a woman polling official, also Muslim, to check their faces against the voter cards.
KP Muhammad Qasim is a local spice trader and has been voting for the past 42 years.
"We need peace so that our business can continue unhindered. This is a prosperous part of the country - we want it to stay that way."
Many of the villagers in Elyar are Muslim
Coconut trees dot the landscape amid rice fields and banana plantations.
But the real income comes from the lucrative spice trade with cinnamon, cardamom, aniseed and cashews grown here.
Many of the villagers are Muslim - like Christianity, Islam first entered India through the south-west, with Arabian traders setting foot here more than 1,000 years ago.
Many Muslim women, veiled in black, line up to vote - women outnumber men in this region.
They lift their veils for a woman polling official, also Muslim, to check their faces against the voter cards.
KP Muhammad Qasim is a local spice trader and has been voting for the past 42 years.
"We need peace so that our business can continue unhindered. This is a prosperous part of the country - we want it to stay that way."
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