Varanasi (UP), November 19
It is the responsibility of 130 crore Indians to preserve the legacy of Tamil and ignoring it will be a great disservice to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday as he stressed on “removing linguistic differences and establishing emotional unity”.
In his inaugural speech at the Kashi Tamil Sangamam here, the prime minister lamented that despite having one of the world’s oldest living languages, Tamil, “we lack in honouring it fully”.
“This is the responsibility of 130 crore Indians to preserve the legacy of Tamil and enrich it.
”If we ignore Tamil we do a great disservice to the nation and if we keep Tamil confined in restrictions, we will do great harm to it. We have to remember to remove linguistic differences and establish emotional unity,” Modi said.
He hailed Kashi and Tamil Nadu as timeless centres of culture (‘sanskriti’) and civilisation (‘sabhyata’).
Both regions are also the centres of the world’s oldest languages like Sanskrit and Tamil, the prime minister noted.
“In our country, there is an importance of ‘sangams’ (confluences). From the confluence of rivers and streams to ideas-ideology, knowledge-science and societies-cultures, we have celebrated all the confluences,” he said.
The Kashi-Tamil Sangamam is a celebration of India’s diversity and uniqueness. It is special on its own and is unparalleled, he said.
While cultural capital Kashi has encapsulated entire India, “our Tamil Nadu and the Tamil culture represent the pride in India’s ancient legacy.
“If in Kashi there is Baba Vishwanath, then in Tamil Nadu there is the blessing of Lord Rameshwaram. Both Kashi and Tamil Nadu are ‘Shivmay’ (drenched in the devotion of Lord Shiv) and ‘Shaktimay’ (drenched in the devotion of Goddess Shakti),” he said at the event in his Lok Sabha constituency.
There is a Dakshin Kashi in Tamil Nadu too, the prime minister noted.
He said Kashi-Kanchi have an important place among the ‘Sapta Puris’, the seven pilgrimage centres that, according to Hindu beliefs, lead to salvation.
The Sapta Puris are – Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya (Mayapuri or Haridwar), Kashi (Varanasi), Kanchi (Kanchipuram), Avantika (Ujjain) and Dwaravati (Dwaraka).
Highlighting contributions made by scholars from the South, Modi said, “‘In my experience, from Ramanujacharya and Shankaracharya to Rajaji and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (who was the former Vice-Chancellor of BHU), without understanding the philosophy of India as per the scholars of the South, we cannot know India.” The prime minister said that a country with a rich heritage should be proud of its legacy.
“This Sangam is also as pious as that of Ganga and Yamuna.” The prime minister said that the Sangamam is a matter of experiencing more than words and expressed the hope that the people of Kashi will leave no stone unturned in providing memorable hospitality.
Modi expressed the wish that such events are organised in Tamil Nadu and other southern states so that youngsters from other parts of the county visit and absorb the culture there.
Discussions
Discussions
