Hardly a place in T.N. where Sri Rama’s footprints aren’t found, says Governor Ravi

Governor R.N. Ravi and other dignitaries at the launch of the book, Sri Rama in Tamilagam: An Inseparable Bond, in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

Governor R.N. Ravi on Saturday said a narrative was built in Tamil Nadu that Sri Rama was a ‘north Indian’ God, and the people of the State did not know the God when preparations were under way for pranpratishta at the Ayodhya Ram temple. However, he said, there is hardly a place in the State where Sri Rama’s footprints cannot be found.

Speaking at the launch of the book, Sri Rama in Tamilagam: An Inseparable Bond, authored by D.K. Hari and D.K. Hema Hari, at the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Ravi further said Bharath could not exist without sanatana dharma.

He contended that young people in Tamil Nadu were being deprived of their cultural and spiritual heritage.

“A kind of fabricated social engineering has been going on to create a different identity by way of a cultural genocide, as if we have nothing to do with the rest of the country and the past is to be erased,” he said.

Ms. Hema Ravi said, “The Ramsethu in Tamil Nadu marks the boundary of Bharath itself. You will also find imprints in Tamil prose and poetry — starting from Agasthiya Muni, the patron saint for Tamil itself. And he points the way to Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana from Dandakaranya.”

S. Gurumurthy, editor, Thuglak, spoke.