LK Advani inaugurates 80th anniversary of Sivagiri pilgrimage

S. Chandrasekhar

INITIATED by Sree Narayana Guru, the great social reformer of Kerala, the annual pilgrimage to the Sivagiri Mutt, established by the Guru himself, is in its 80th  year. But for Sree Narayana Guru, entire Kerala would have got converted to Islam or Christianity.

Inaugurating the 80th Annual Pilgrimage at Sivagiri Mutt, near Thiruvananthapuram, Advaniji said that he was aware of the Guru from his 16th year. At the RSS Shakha in Karachi, we used to recite the Guru’s name in ‘Pratasmarana’. “I was asked to inaugurate the annual pilgrimage in 1987, but due to bad weather my plane got cancelled. I am honoured on having the opportunity 25 years later.”

“The Guru gave importance to character rather than caste. The state and central governments should include teachings and ideals of great saints and sages like Sree Narayana Guru, Swami Vivekananda, and Ramakrishna in the curriculum to enhance educational standards and spiritual quotient for posterity. Just like IQ and EQ, Spiritual Quotient is also important. It will help develop selfless patriotic men of outstanding character and help control emotions. Pilgimages teach us to be selfless and practise austerity”, Advaniji concluded.

Swami Prakashananda, President of Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham gave the pilgrimage message. Union Minister Vayalar Ravi, presided. SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellapalli Natesan lamented that while state and central governments gave holidays for insignificant occasions, they are not giving a day’s holiday for the Sivagiri pilgrimage. CPM MP Sampath, Congress MLA Kahar also spoke.

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