New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday took serious exception to a recent cultural festival reportedly held in Uttarakhand’s Badrinath, saying granting permission for such a music concert at the holy place is not only a violation of cultural decorum but also a direct assault on the sanctity of the holy shrine.
Joshi urged the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to uphold the sanctity of “Devbhoomi” by banning such events.
According to media reports, the two-day Devbhoomi Cultural Festival was organised in Badrinath town in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on the theme of “Culture is Our Heritage, Our Future”.
Reacting sharply to the development, Joshi said in a post in Hindi on X: “Granting permission for a music concert, a DJ event at Badrinath Dham is not only a violation of cultural decorum but also a direct assault on the sanctity of the holy shrine.”
He said Adi Guru Shankaracharya had established Badrinath Dham amidst the Himalayan environment specifically for the peaceful singing of hymns and devotion to the divine.
“It is noteworthy that even blowing a conch shell is prohibited at this location; yet, disregarding this, we organise loud musical events, blatantly disregarding Indian spiritual, cultural and environmental values, while also ignoring the adverse health effects caused by thousands of people dancing at such high altitudes,” the former president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.
This symbolises the fact that a “baazaru sanskriti” (a culture driven by commercialism) is taking roots in “Devbhoomi”, he lamented.
Joshi urged the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to uphold the sanctity of “Devbhoomi” by banning such events.
He also urged the followers of Indian culture, especially the shankaracharyas and mahatmas (seers), to raise an “effective voice” to stop such “erosion of culture”.
“The Himalayas are divine, the abode of Lord Shankar and the source of Mother Ganga. Turning them into a hub of nightlife and revelry deals a severe blow to the faith of millions of Indians,” the BJP stalwart added. PTI PK RC
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