Inaugurates NZ Youth Festival at Katra
Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Feb 20: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today visited the holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji and paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum.
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He was accompanied by Mahamandleshwar Swami Vishveshvaranand Giriji Maharaj and other Board members and prayed for peace, prosperity and happiness for all.
During his visit, Sinha inaugurated Tripti Bhojanalaya and Prasad Kendra cum Souvenir Shop at the holy shrine.
“Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is fully devoted to provide better facilities to the pilgrims during their pilgrimage to holy shrine,” he observed.
“In the last 3 years, we have developed new infrastructure and several new initiatives like RFID, CCTV, new Registration Counter were started for hassle-free pilgrimage,” he added.
The upcoming Durga Bhawan & Skywalk, and the recently approved integrated digital solution will make this spiritual journey more convenient, organized and memorable for the devotees, he added.
The Lt Governor, who is also the Chairman of the SMVDSB took first-hand appraisal of the progress of the ongoing construction work of Durga Bhawan and other facilities.
SMVDSB has decided to develop Shankaracharya temple near Katra. Durga Bhawan will be dedicated to devotees before Navratri festival this year. It will provide accommodation to 3000 pilgrims per day near Bhawan, the Lt Governor said.
Chief Executive Officer SMVDSB Anshul Garg briefed the Lt Governor about ongoing projects and the efforts of the board for upgrading and expanding the facilities for the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, the Lieutenant Governor inaugurated the North Zone Youth Festival ‘KSHITIJ’ at Spiritual Growth Centre, Katra today.
The 3-day North Zone Youth Festival is being organized by SMVDSB in collaboration with Central Sanskrit University. Sanskrit scholars of 10 institutes from 7 States/UTs are participating in this unique Sanskrit Scholars festival.
The Lt Governor welcomed the Sanskrit scholars participating in the festival and exhorted them to contribute constructively in nation building.
“Sanskrit is not only one of the oldest living languages of the world but also the greatest treasure of classic literature and knowledge in science and technology. This festival is a perfect opportunity to make the young generation aware of values and ideals that Sanskrit possesses,” said the Lt Governor.
“North Zone Youth Festival will lead to a better understanding of the various aspects of Sanskrit Studies and knowledge system. We are making efforts through flexible and non-formal Sanskrit courses to increase access of students to make it language of common man,” he added.
Sanskrit has been the guiding force of our culture and knowledge economy. It is our collective responsibility to popularize the Sanskrit language and preserve the treasure of science, spirituality, philosophy and culture, the Lt Governor observed.
He lauded the efforts of various organizations and stakeholders like Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Chudamani Sanskrit Sansthan and Mahant Rohit Shastri in promoting Sanskrit language in the UT.
Mahamandleshwar Shri Swami Vishveshvaranand Giriji Maharaj, Member SMVDSB called for making collective efforts to promote Sanskrit and ensure that all sections of the society get the benefit of the inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge, science and thought.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Katra along with various campuses of Central Sanskrit University and Adarsh Maha Vidyalaya of Sanskrit, situated in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are participating in this mega event for the first time for the promotion of Sanskrit Language in J&K UT, it was informed.
Members of the Shrine Board:- Dr Ashok Bhan; Sh Kul Bhushan Ahuja; Dr Neelam Sareen; Suresh Kumar Sharma (Retd. Judge); Raghu K. Mehta and Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB Anshul Garg were present on the occasion.
Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Prof. Madan Mohan Jha, Director Shri Ranbir Campus, besides students, faculty members and staff of Shrine Board also attended the opening ceremony.
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