Sri Sandeepnathji inaugurates ‘Deepavali and Bhavaikyatheya Sangama
Mangaluru: To mark the festival of Lights, “Deepavali and Bhavaikyathe”, was held under the able leadership of Chief Whip of Karnataka Legislative Assembly Ivan D’Souza, at the Kadri Shri Gorakshakanath Jhnana Mandir, near Kadri Park here on October 29.
The programme began with the state Anthem. Ivan D’Souza welcomed the gathering. The programme was inaugurated by Sri Sri Sandeepnathji of Shri Yogeshwar Math Kadri by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries on the dais.
Addressing the gathering MLA J R Lobo said that Diwali is a festival that is celebrated not only in India, but also in other countries where Indians reside. “This is not a festival only Hindus celebrate. Indians from all religions come together to celebrate the festival of lights and through this programme, I want to convey the message that we should all live in peace and harmony. Only when there is peace and harmony among the people, our society, city and the country can develop. When we are divided on the lines of religion, caste, creed, etc., development is not possible. Our country has unity in diversity and we need peace and harmony. There are different religions, but no religion teaches its followers to hate, kill, or loot people. Every religion teaches us that there is one God and we are all the children of God. We need to respect and help people of other religions”.
Sri Sri Rajayogi Sandeepnathji Maharaj congratulated the organizers for celebrating Deepavali in a special way. He said that Diwali is the festival of lights, we should light up the darkness inside us, keep the darkness away and let the light shine forever.
Speaking on the occasion Maulana Zafer Sadiq Faizi said, “In the Holy Quran, it says that God has created man and woman to love one another and not to fight in the name of religion. I have created you and whoever believes in God and follows him they are true humans. Our country has unity in diversity, and we should feel happy when we celebrate festivals. We need to respect people of all religions. We all are one and we need to live with unity, harmony and brotherhood. If anyone creates violence or does wrong to others he/she should be kept away from the society”. He congratulated the organizers for the meaningful Diwali celebrations.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Fr Clifford Fernandes from St Joseph’s Seminary said, “Whatever we sow, we reap. God created the Universe but humans created only barriers. We see the doves, in the mosque in the morning, in the afternoon we see them in the Temple and at night they are at the Church. They do not fight for anything. Why don’t we be like the doves? Diwali, the festival of lights is not only for Hindus, we all celebrate this festival. Our life is a journey, we book a ticket to travel on a train, we sit on a particular seat and travel. As soon as out destination arrives, we leave the seat and go. After that, we do not know who sits on that seat and the train continues its journey. Our life is a journey, after we die we will be buried or cremated, if we do good when we are alive people will remember us for our good work after we die”.
Recalling a story of a small boy, who offered food to an old woman, Fr Clifford said, “God has given us two hands, one to feed ourselves and the another to feed others, one hand to wipe our tears and the other to wipe the tears of others. We should be like the candles always giving out light and not like the firecrackers. In Mangaluru we have not faced any calamities, but nowadays we see people fight in the name of religion. Blood has been spilled on our soil which may be the reason for the shortage of rain”.
Spectacles and Rice sacks were symbolically distributed on the occasion. Prizes were distributed to the winners of the Goodudeepa, speech and drawing competitions.
Mayor Harinath, Sadananda Shetty, Kodijal Ibrahim, Mithun Rai, Dr Kavitha D’Souza and others were also present.