Union minister for culture and tourism G Kishan Reddy said that temples are the symbol of India’s culture and way of life. He said that the country’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage needs to be celebrated and protected and the conference provides a platform to discuss, deliberate and disseminate to the world the grandeur of Indian temples, art and architecture.
He inaugurated a two-day international conference ‘Devayatanam – An odyssey of Indian temple architecture for 25th & 26th February, at Hampi, Karnataka, organized by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) of Ministry of Culture, as party of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Minister aid that this was in line with the overall vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inspires us with 5 V’s, i. e. Vikas (development), Virasat (heritage), Vishwas (trust), Vignan (knowledge) will lead us to becoming a vishwaguru so that India shows the world the way.
Elaborating on the 5 V’s, the Minister said that the Union Government’s development effort (Vikas) is ensuring benefits are reaching the poorest of the poor. He said that the government is striving towards protection, preservation and propagation of our wonderful heritage (Virasat) so that future generations have access to it.
He further said that the Union government operates with trust and wins the confidence (Vishwas) of its citizens and the world. By leveraging knowledge, science and technology (Vigyan) the country is building a self-reliant Atma Nirbhar Bharat. India with a repository of old and traditional heritage, knowledge, confidence and a prosperous citizenry is dedicated and working unitedly to become a Vishwaguru for the world.
He also said that the temples of this land should be seen through multiple dimensions as they simultaneously provide spiritual well-being to the soul, enlightenment through education, economic opportunities to the local community, a creative outlet for the craftsmen, artists and artisans, and are a repository of our culture, and glory that shades on our past.
He said that a Hindu temple is a combination of art and science which includes Shilpa sastra, vasthu sastra, geometry and symmetry. The temples promote unity, integrity, and civilization. It was during the freedom struggle that all the freedom struggles were resolved before temple fire to fight for freedom of the country.
