Swami Prajnanananda Theerthapada, president of the Theerthapada Ashram at Vazhoor, inaugurated the 103rd Ayroor-Cherukolpuzha Hindu religious meet at a ceremonial function held on the sandbed of river Pampa at Cherukolpuzha on Sunday afternoon.
Inaugurating the meet, Swami Prajnanananda said the very understanding of the fact that God is omnipresent would lead to peace and harmony in the world.
He said the aim of human life was self-realisation by practicing a disciplined life rooted in spiritual values. He said the dharma of a human being was to seek the cosmic entity which alone could provide everlasting happiness.
According to him, religious meets are aimed at cultural upliftment of people and the society at large.
He said dharma is the path of righteousness and living one’s life according to the codes of conduct as described by the Hindu scriptures.
Delivering the keynote address, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, P.J. Kurien, said truth is what reside in all living beings. He said different religions are like the rivers that flow into the ocean which signifies God the ultimate reality..
Delivering the benedictory speech, Sri M, founder of the Satsang Foundation, said all souls are potentially divine. He said nowhere in the world one could see a philosophy which is richer than the Hindu philosophy.
N.K.Premachandran, MP, and T.K.A.Nair, former advisor to Prime Minister, also spoke. T.N. Upendranatha Kurup, president of the Hindumatha Maha Mandalam (HMM) that organises the week-long event, presided over the function.
The meet began with a soulful prayer by Ms Sandhya Sreenivasan.
Swami Satchidananda and M.R.Gopalakrishnan Nair, religious scholars, delivered religious discourses in the evening session. Swami Chidbhavananda Saraswati, Jayasuryan Pala, and Anilkumar, all religious scholars, will deliver discourses on Monday afternoon.
Water Resources minister, P.J. Joseph, will inaugurate the cultural meet to be held on Tuesday afternoon. Ezhacherry Ramachandran, Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society president, will preside over the meet.
