Kolkata/New Delhi, July 10
Goddess Kali’s unlimited blessings are always with India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday while lauding the country’s saints for always standing for “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” (One India, great India).
The establishment of Ramakrishna Mission is also associated with this idea, he said in a video message on the birth centenary celebrations of Swami Atmasthananda, a former head of the organisation.
Invoking Goddess Kali, Modi said Ramakrishna Paramhansa was one saint who had a clear vision of her and his disciple Swami Vivekananda had also felt the spiritual vision about the goddess, which infused into him extraordinary energy and strength.
Noting his association with Atmasthananda, the prime minister said the saint would often mention Maa Kali and that it was natural for him to feel an association with the goddess while looking at her temple at Dakshineswar during his visit to Belur Math.
“When faith is sacred, then shakti shows us the way herself. Maa Kali’s unlimited blessings are always with India. With the spiritual energy, India is moving ahead with the spirit of world’s welfare,” he said.
His comments came amid a row over the controversial depiction of the goddess in a poster by a Canadian film-maker of Indian origin, which has drawn angry reaction from BJP leaders and Hindu groups. TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s remarks that she had every right to imagine Goddess Kali as a “meat-eating and alcohol-accepting” deity has added to the row.
Modi made no reference to the topic in his speech.
