Seers and community leaders taking part in the Brahmashree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations in Belagavi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: P.K. Badiger
“Brahmashree Narayana Guru worked towards eradicating untouchability. His ideology is ever relevant as he practised what he preached,” Sri Arunananda Tirtha Maha Swamiji of Nippani Mahakali Mahasansthan said in Belagavi on Sunday.
He was speaking at the Brahmashree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations. The Guru should not be restricted to any one community as he worked for social reform by eliminating untouchability and discrimination in society, the seer said.
The jayanti celebrations were organised by the district administration, the Zilla Panchayat, the Kannada and Culture Department at the Kumar Gandharv Kala Mandir.
“Narayana Guru was an unparalleled personality who was committed to eliminating untouchability in society through social reform. He also opposed the system of exploitation of women,” the seer said.
Writer Mallamma Yatagal spoke on the life and contribution of the Guru. “He introduced reform not by fighting for any particular community but by fighting against narrow mindedness in the whole society,” she said.
“The Guru left his mark on our lives by making realise the importance of equality and equal opportunity. More than a century ago, he spoke of modernist ideas like equity, environment protection and women’s empowerment,” she said.
Meritorious students Prajan Pujari, Trisha Shekhara Pujari, Shreyas Prabhakar Pujari and others were felicitated.
Kannada and Culture Department Deputy Director Vidyavati Bhajantri, community leaders Sudhir Kumar Salyan, Vijay Salyan, Basavaraja Eeliga, Sujan Kumar, Sunil Kumar and other dignitaries were present.
Members of various Mahila Mandals, members of Billavara Association, office-bearers of Billavara Association youth organisation attended.
