The Atheist Centre here will open the country's first atheism university and research centre, coinciding with the centenary celebrations of social activist Saraswathi Gora on Wednesday.
The centre had been promoting a casteless society with a scientific outlook to help remove superstitions on a path shown by popular atheist Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (Gora).
Saraswathi Gora and their nine children not only carried forward the atheist ideology through practice, involving themselves in promoting alternative way of life with scientific outlook, and helping several researchers from all over the world to study this social aspect.
The university and research centre will not be affiliated to any conventional institution. It will have a large database of study material based on work done by Gora and other socialists from Germany or the United States. “We have roped in world's best resource persons and guides, who provide the right direction with the researcher not having to visit Vijayawada many times,” Atheist Centre directors Vijayam and Samaram told The Hindu .
Ground level actions of Gora and Saraswathi to remove the Devadasi system, and their interaction with Mahatma Gandhi, have been documented through several books, photographs and newspapers articles.
