R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, MAR 19
“Cleanliness is next to godliness” is a clichéd saying we have all heard since childhood but have miserably failed to take heed of this unoriginal saying. Though it means that we must keep ourselves clean, our homes spick and span and, pilgrim sites and our communities unpolluted and dirt-free, sadly, we all know that is not the case.
- Prime Minister and Chairman of the Trust Narendra Modi, Trust is spreading spiritual consciousness worldwide.
- 1,001 Pooja Yajman and thousands of devotees from 51 temples of 5 chief states of South India connect with Shri Somnath Mandir through virtual medium
- Accepting the request of the cleanliness campaign “Punyam Poongavanam” started by IPS officer P Vijayan, Somnath Trust gave the benefit of online darshan and aarti of Somnath Mahadev
- ‘Conscious and Responsible Pilgrimage’, which has won accolades from across the nation and is being emulated in other pilgrim centres.
- Five state of South India – Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana worship at Shri Somnath Temple
Sending a strong message on this cleanliness drive with divine touch, Shri Somnath Mandir offered virtual darshan to devotees from all five Southern States, the Trustees of Somnath Mandir said here on Sunday.
The South Indian states – Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana joined the first Jyotirlinga- Shree Somnath temple and participated online for Pooja Darshan and Aarti. More than 1,001 devotees worshiped in 51 temples in 5 states and thousands of devotees witnessed this wonderful event.
The faith of many people is connected with Ayyappa temple, an important religious place in God’s Own Country in South India. Millions of devotees visit this temple every year. Garbage heaps was a big problem in this area, to solve this problem “Punyam Poonkavanam” project was started by IPS officer P Vijayan. As a result, success in establishing cleanliness at pilgrimage sites was accomplished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also appreciated this project in the Mann Ki Baat programme.
The volunteers of Punyam Poonkavanam and the Somnath Temple Trust jointly participated in a historic event. More than 51 famous Shiva temples from the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana joined together with Somnath temple in Gujarat. 1,001 devotees from these 51 locations joined the Shiva Puja and Aarti of Somnath Temple online.
Prime Minister and Chairman of the Trust Narendra Modi said, the trust is spreading spiritual consciousness worldwide. Under which a wonderful combination of trust spirituality and modernization has been created. Even at the international level, millions of people across the world are availing the facility of live darshan and online worship of Somnath Mahadev. Thousands of devotees from 5 chief states of South India joined this online pooja.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel praised this planning and congratulated for the efforts. One of the Trustees of Somnath Trust PK Lahiri applauded this excellent planning of joining 51 temples of South with Somnath. He remembered the efforts made by Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for the reconstruction of Somnath temple.
IPS P Vijayan, currently serving as the Inspector General of Police, Coastal Security and Director Social Policing, Kerala highlighted the concept of Punyam Poongavanam and the group’s work related to cleanliness and environment. He also appreciated the service of online worship of Somnath Trust at national level.
Shiva devotees had the great fortune to worship at notable Shiva temples and to connect with the first Jyotirlinga Shri Somnath Temple during this devotional journey from south to north.
Punyam Poonkavanam spreads awareness on responsible, community run cleanliness drive
Sabarimala is one of the most famous and most visited pilgrim centres in the world. It gets around 1.5 million pilgrims visiting the shrine placed in the middle of a Periyar Tiger Reserve during the three months of pilgrim season every year. It is estimated that nearly 2 lakh pilgrims visit the area in a day. This poses a humungous challenge of waste management. Every season left behind heaps and heaps of waste, mostly plastic waste, which kills the wild life in the forest beside cause other serious environmental issues. The River Pampa at the foot of the hill becomes extremely polluted at the end of every season. The problem could not be addressed by temporary knee-jerk solutions and this made P. Vijayan IPS come up with the Punyam Poonkavanam concept. In about 10 years, the participatory model brought about a paradigm shift in the way pilgrimage is conducted. He initiated the shift towards ‘Conscious and Responsible Pilgrimage’, which has won accolades from across the nation and is being emulated in other pilgrim centres.
