Modi’s maiden Visit to iconic Gorakhpur Gita Press
Omkar Dattatray
The Prime minister Narendra Modi is a tall personal ,dynamic and multifaceted personality who is deeply connected with his roots and he does not feel shy of his ethos and culture but takes pride in the culture ,ethos ,traditions ,customs et al .He time and again stresses and shows his keen interest in the culture and heritage of India and takes pride and pleasure in showing reverence to the great culture ,traditions ,customs ,folklores and the ethos of India .It is every body’s knowledge that the stature ,prestige and status of India has raised because of the sincere efforts and painstaking hard work of PM Modi and India is marching fast to become Vishwaguru in near future and this is the feather in the cap of Modi because it will be possible by the efforts of Modi and he deserves all praise and appreciation for this .India has got a rightful place and honor and pride in the world because of Modi’s work and style of functioning and projecting the country and its culture in proper light .Today India has got a place of pride in the international community .He takes great pride and interest in the religious and spiritual pursuits and he often visits the religious places and shrines and places associated with religion.Thus has Modi embarked on his maiden visit to country famous Gita Press Gurkhpur and participated in its centenary function on 7th July Friday .This visit shows the intense love an d affection of Modi for the things related with religion and spirituality .Gita Press Gurkhpur had been established way back in year 1923 and it is a matter of pride and a privilege to be part of the centenary celebrations of this famous press .Upon his arrival ,Modi was welcomed by governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath .Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached Gorakhpur to attend the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Gita Press and flag off Vande Bharat trains .He has the privilege of being the first prime minister to have ever visited the Gita press Gorakhpur .At Gita Press the world’s largest publisher of Hindu religious textbooks ,the PM released the Chitramaya Shiva Purana granth and also visited the Leela Chitra temple .Gita press was recently conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 by the jury headed by PM Modi .It is the Gita press which sells Hanuman Chalisa for rupees two .Gita press which has become another name of Gorkhpur has completed 100 years of its eventful journey .It has published 42 crore books which is a record .Gita Press has the privilege of printing and publishing 70,000 books every day .Gita Press has been providing Gita at the cost of Rupees one has seen many ups and downs in its history and journey of 100 years .Recently Gita press has been awarded the Gandhi peace prize and there was a controversy over this and congress and several other political parties opposed conferring Gandhi peace prize on Gita Press .It was founded in the year 1923 by Jaidayal Goyanka and Hanuman Prasad Puddar .Its greatest contribution is that it has made available Hindu religious books at the lowest prices to the common people.Gita press has got the distinction of publishing crores of Hindu scriptures at cheap rates.It has sold crores of the Gagwad Gita,Tulsidas’s books ,Purans and Upnishads to people .It has published 42 crore religious books in its eventful life of 100 years and this includes 18 crore copies of Bhagwad Gita as well .It has become the greatest publisher of Hindu religious texts from 1923 .Today this is not only a printing press only but it is feeling and pulse of the people .Gita Press is working on the pattern of a trust .In year 1926 Gita Press started to print Kalayan Journal and it is a household name today .It is printing and publishing Hindu religious texts in 15 languages.It is working like a trust and is working on the principle of no profit no loss as a non- profit organization .Not only Indians come to see it but people from abroad come to see this press .As already said Gita Press was recently conferred Gandhi peace prize .The prize is an annual award instituted by the central government in 1995 and it carries a cash money of rupees 1 crore ,besides a citation plaque and a traditional item of handicraft or handloom product.PM Modi attended the closing ceremony of Gita press celebrations in UP’s Gorakhpur on July 7th weeks after his government conferred the Gandhi peace prize for 2021 on the publisher .Recently Modi took to twitter to congratulate Gita Press for’ ’commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among people .’’Modi addressed the audience ,had a special meeting with the management and also visited the famous Lila Chitra Mandir and thus attended Gita Press’s centenary celebrations .The PM Modi’s visit comes nearly three weeks after a controversy erupted over union governments decision to confer the Gandhi peace prize on the publisher in recognition of its ‘’outstanding contribution towards social ,economic and political transformation through non –violent and other Gandhain methods. ’’The announcement ,however triggered sharp controversy from congress ,with the party calling the move a travesty and akin to awarding Hindutva ideologue V.D.Savarkar and Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse .Earlier BJP national president JP Nadda said ,’’Your contribution for the last 100 years in the preservation and flourishing of India’s glorious sanatan culture is commendable. ’’PM Modi has visited the iconic Gita press on July 7 for the concluding ceremony of its centenary celebrations .The iconic Gita press was decked up to welcome the first prime ministerial visit on July 7.Narendra Modi was the chief gust at the concluding ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the largest publication centre of religious literature in the country .The president of India ,Ramnath Kovind had inaugurated the centenary celebrations on June 4,2022 ,which ended with PM Modi’s visit on July 7.Manager of the Gita Press Lalmani Tiwari confirmed that before president Kovind ,Dr Rajinder Prasad ,the first president of India ,had visited Gita Press in 1955 and had inaugurated the Lila Chitrwali building and entrance gate The PM’s Gita Press stay was of 45 minutes duration .Elaborate security arrangements were put in place for the visit of PM Modi to Gita press Gurkhpur .The PM said the government decided to give the Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press after it completed 100 years and highlighted the emotional attachment Mahtama Gandhi had towards Gita Press.PM Modi described the publishing house as ‘’not less than a temple ’’adding the publisher is ‘’guiding humanity ‘’through its work .Modi further said, ’’Gita Press is not only a printing press or an institution but a living faith. The publisher is guiding humanity .It is no less than a temple for crores of people .There is Gita in its name as well as its work .Where there is Gita ,there is Krishna in person .Where there is Krishna ,there is compassion as well as action .The spiritual light which was ignited in the form of Geeta Press in 1923 ,today that light is guiding humanity. ’’In short the visit of PM Modi to Gita press is historical also in the sense that he is the first Prime minister who ever visited the iconic Gita press and the PM showered words of wisdom at the closing centenary celebrations of the Gita Press .May Gita press continue its selfless journey to spread the message of Sanatan Dharma in future as well .Congratulations to the management board of the Gita Press on its completing 100th year.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
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