Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has said that the call for inclusion of lessons on Sree Narayana Guru’s life and teachings in the curriculum for classes 1 to 12 cannot be ignored by the government.
He was inaugurating the 158th Jayanthi celebrations of the Guru organised by the Sree Narayana Guru International Study Centre at the Chempazhanthy Gurukulam here on Friday.
‘Influential’
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the Guru’s teachings and visions on spirituality in social reform and universal brotherhood, and his approach based on the ‘advaita’ philosophy were what set him apart from the rest of the spiritual leaders across the world.
His call for inclusion of spirituality in social reform was also what still made him the most influential Malayali after more than a century of his birth, he said.
Pointing out that the request from the study centre on the inclusion of the Guru’s life and teachings in the educational curriculum was a long-standing one, the Minister said there was no doubt that the government would take a positive view on this. The matter would be taken up with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who incidentally was slated to inaugurate the function, but could not make it since he was away in Kannur, visiting the relatives of those killed in Monday’s LPG tanker explosion.
Swami Prakashananda, president of the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust, presided over the function. M.A. Wahid, MLA, welcomed the gathering. Devaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar; former Union Minister O. Rajagopal; A. Sampath, MP; former MLA T. Sarathchandra Prasad; Swami Sookshmananda; Palayam Imam Maulavi Jamaluddin Mankada; Rev. Jyothy Isaac; and others were present.
Earlier, undeterred by the rain, hundreds of Sree Narayana devotees took out colourful processions and tableaux themed on the Guru’s life and teachings from various centres in and around Chempazhanthy, the birthplace of the Guru, to the Gurukulam.
