Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said Lord Ram’s life showcases that he worked for integrating the society, but unfortunately in the current situation, he is being portrayed only as a warrior.
Without naming anyone, he also said that those indulging in disintegrating have vested interests.
Baghel was addressing the concluding ceremony of a grand three-day competition on ‘Manas Mandli Gayan’ (musical troupes which recite Ramcharit Manas) held at Shivrinarayan, a famous pilgrimage site in Janjgir-Champa district of the state.
The three-day event was held to mark the inauguration of the first phase of renovation and beautification at Shivrinarayan under the government’s ambitious Ram Van Gaman Tourism Circuit project.
”Our great men have done the work of unifying and connecting every section of the society in their respective time. In treta yug, Lord Ram worked to integrate every section of the society right from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka. The same thing was done by Lord Krishna, Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda in their respective periods…” he said. ”But what is happening today is unfortunate…Lord Ram is being portrayed as ‘yuddhak’ (warrior) and Hanuman as an angry Hanuman,” the CM said asking the audience if our Gods were like this.
Our basic culture is to integrate people and there is a need to work further in this direction. Those who are indulged in disintegrating, they have vested interest, he said without naming anyone.
The idea of unifying people was given by our legends and this is the path followed by the whole country, including us, that eventually leads to the path of peace, he added.
Meanwhile, he dedicated and performed the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of various development works worth Rs 238 crore there.
As per mythology, Ram Van Gaman Path is the route taken by Ram on his way to the 14-year exile. It is believed that lord Rama had spent most of his time during exile in Chhattisgarh.
To keep the memories of contexts related to Lord Ram and Mata Kaushalya alive, the state government has undertaken the ‘Ram Van Gaman Tourism Circuit’ project and has started developing nine places falling on the route taken by Lord Ram as tourist destinations in the first phase.
Chandkhuri, a village located around 27 km away from capital Raipur, is considered as the birthplace of Mata Kaushalya, mother of Lord Ram.