BHUBANESWAR: Geeta Parivar, Odisha Branch and Geeta Gram (K-5), Kalinga Nagar on Sunday celebrated the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at the Kalinga Vihar community centre here.
Delivering the keynote address on the occasion, former vice-chancellor of Utkal University of Culture, Prof Amiya Kumar Patnaik said Swami Vivekananda had successfully propagated the importance of Sanatan Dharma all over the world.
When the land of India was subjected to political as well as cultural and religious subjugation and efforts were being made to promote and propagate other religions, Swamiji was invited to speak as a representative of the Sanatan Dharma at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, Prof Patnaik added.
“Swamiji through his message of universalism and the spiritual essence of Sanatan Dharma left a lasting impression and for the next two-years travelled across the United States with a Shrimad Bhagavad Gita book in his hand, preaching the significance of Sanatan Dharma,” he said adding, Swamiji’s work has been published in eight books.
Gracing the occasion as the chief guests, Odisha Geeta Parivar chairman Pramod Kumar Mohanty spoke on the significance and benefit of reading the Bhagavad Gita. Kalinga Vihar Community Welfare Association president Shishir Kumar Mishra also spoke.