150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda celebrated

The event began with the garlanding of the statue of Swami Vivekananada situated at the Vivekananda Hills and followed by the singing of prayers

The year-long 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Viveknanda in Sri Lanka began yesterday (12) with an event organized by the All Ceylon Hindu Congress at Vivekananda Hall, Colombo. Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Swami Sarvarupananda of the Ramakrishna Mission, Sri Lanka was the Guest of Honour. D. M. Swaminathan, Member of Parliament, V. Kailasapillai, Chairman, All Ceylon Hindu Congress, Surendaran, PC & Chairman, Vivekananda Society, Colombo and Mr. K. Neelakandan, Secretary, All Ceylon Hindu Congress were among the distinguished gathering present at the event.

The event began with the garlanding of the statue of Swami Vivekananda situated at the Vivekananda Hills and followed by the singing of prayers.

In his remarks, High Commissioner Kantha thanked the All Ceylon Hindu Congress, Vivekananda Society of Colombo and Ramakrishna Mission for taking the lead in celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in Sri Lanka. He highlighted the special links of Swami Vivekananda had with Sri Lanka, a country that he visited thrice. He emphasized that Swami Vivekananda was one of the great thinkers of modern India, a great teacher and spiritual leader who left a deep impact both within India and outside it. He was one of India’s earliest cultural Ambassadors who was able to propagate Indian philosophy, thought and culture to the outside world.

High Commissioner Kantha underlined that Swami Vivekananda’s message was universal and was based on rationality and righteousness. He elaborated that it was a message based on Vedanta but interpreted with a new, contemporary meaning and struck a chord because it was a message of tolerance and universality of core religious values.

The High Commissioner pointed out that Swami Vivekananda drew upon our ancient texts to communicate with brilliance and eloquence, the message of India which lays emphasis on tolerance, plurality and openness. It was message of rejection of sectarianism, bigotry and fanaticism. It was a message of rejection of hollow rituals. He recalled that Swami Vivekananda worked for the emancipation of women and the down-trodden through education. The Swami was fully involved with the world around him and was committed to change it.

A number of events were being organized by the High Commission throughout the year to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda in Sri Lanka.