NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MAY 16
As part of the Centre’s thrust to celebrate cultural diversity and different traditions, a fortnight after hosting Maharashtra and Gujarat’s statehood day, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi celebrated the Foundation day of Sikkim here on Tuesday.
Shri. R. N. Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the #SikkimStatehoodDay celebration at Raj Bhavan, Chennai.@PMOIndia @narendramodi @AmitShah @kishanreddybjp @EBSB_Edumin @MIB_India @PIB_India @airnewsalerts @DDNewslive @PIBGangtok @sikkimgovt @MDoNER_India @rajbhavan_tn pic.twitter.com/nbbwIuBOEd
— PIB in Tamil Nadu (@pibchennai) May 16, 2023
- Earlier, people moved across the country for pilgrimages to Puri, Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, and Dwaraka: Governor
- Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam celebrated the unity of people
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has regularly stressed the celebration of every state’s heritage and traditions as part of his “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” initiative
Governor of Tamil Nadu felicitating the dignitaries of #SikkimStatehoodDay at @rajbhavan_tn .#EkBharatShreshthaBharat @PMOIndia @narendramodi @PIBGangtok @sikkimgovt @rajbhavan_tn @EBSB_Edumin @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/9TQUN6ZSAL
— PIB in Tamil Nadu (@pibchennai) May 16, 2023
Kickstarting the Sikkim Foundation day, Governor RN Ravi, said, “Being a princely state, Sikkim would have joined India at the time of India’s independence like other princely states. It was the British, for reasons that are not difficult to decipher, who advised leaders at that point of time to keep Sikkim out of constituent assembly deliberations; subsequently, Sikkim under the Maharaja got protectorate status. With popular desire and was eventually, on May 16, 1975, Sikkim came home and formally joined the family (India). It was a political integration, but India, being a civilizational country, has been a part of this larger Bharatvarsh for long-long time. Sikkim was part of Bharat, where people used to go for pilgrimages.”
Kashi Tamil Sangamam was a beginning of a festival, reviving the age-old connect between the people of Tamil Nadu and Kashi. Likewise Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam was celebrated in a grand manner as thousands of people from Saurashtra came and settled here. They never felt they were going to another country or place. They were welcomed, the Governor said.
Throwing light on national unity, the Governor said, “Earlier, people moved across the country for pilgrimages to Puri, Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, and Dwaraka. People were well connected. The socio-cultural interaction was weakened during British time deliberately.”
Sikkim, first organic state of the country
“Sikkim is an example for the rest of the country that how people can live together and grow with absolute consciousness towards the environment and sustainable growth. In Sikkim, no chemical fertiliser is used, which has only been possible with the collective will and cooperation of the people,” he added.
Ravi said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has regularly stressed the celebration of every state’s heritage and traditions as part of his “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” initiative. Be it attending traditional festivals associated with different states or the force behind events like Kashi-Tamil Samagam, he has stressed making people in different parts of the country aware of the traditions and culture of other regions and celebrating them.”
