Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged from a 45-hour meditation at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial on Saturday dressed in white, his spiritual sojourn coming against the backdrop of the final phase of India’s Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Meditation Sessions The ceremony began at the Dhyan Mandapam, where the revered Swami Vivekananda is believed to have had a divine vision of Bharat Mata, on the evening of May 30. Set against the backdrop of Kanyakumari’s famous sunrise and sunset views, the rock monument lies on a tiny island where the eastern and western coasts of India meet, where the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea meet.
At dawn, Modi performed the Surya Argya, a ritual water offering to the sun, a symbol of respect and gratitude. Clad in saffron, he poured water into the ocean from a small traditional beaker-like vessel while holding prayer beads and chanting prayers.
After completing his meditation, PM Modi laid a wreath at the 133-foot statue of Tamil literary giant Thiruvalluvar, which stands next to the rock memorial. Reaching the statue site by ferry, the PM laid a wreath at the poet’s feet.
After completing his meditation, Modi returned to the mainland by ferry and then took a helicopter to Thiruvananthapuram before flying to Delhi in an Indian Air Force aircraft at around 4 pm.
After completing his meditation, he wrote, “I felt the divine energy when I visited the Vivekananda rock monument at Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India. Mother Parvati and Swami Vivekananda had meditated on this rock. Later, Eknath Ranade transformed this rock into ‘Sila Smarak’, embodying the ideas of Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda, the leader of the spiritual revival, was my ideal, my energy and the source of my spirituality.”
“This meditation on ‘Sheela Smarak’ is one of the unforgettable moments of my life. Seated at the feet of ‘Ma Bharati’, I reaffirm my resolve to always devote every moment of my life and every part of my body to the service of the nation,” he wrote. “For the development of the nation and the welfare of its people, I offer my utmost respects to ‘Ma Bharati’.”
The visit reflects Modi’s pattern of embarking on spiritual journeys at the end of major political campaigns: in 2019, he visited the Hindu holy site of Kedarnath in the Himalayas, and in 2014, he visited Shivaji’s Pratapagarh Fort after winning an election.
A BJP statement released ahead of the trip to Kanyakumari spoke of the rock’s mythological connections, where it is believed Goddess Parvati meditated on one leg, awaiting union with Lord Shiva. The rock memorial was erected in 1970 to mark the visit of Swami Vivekananda, who meditated here before his journey to the West and later introduced the Indian philosophy of Vedanta to the world stage.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: 06 January 2024 21:51 IST
