An excerpt from the Indian President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam?s address at the inauguration of Swaminarayan Akshardham Cultural Complex in New Delhi:
The Mother Embraces Her Children
?My journey commenced, in my ancestral home.
Loving families with multiple cradles,
of the civilization of my nation.
My mother embraced me with love,
I felt the soft touch of my mother?s hand.
I cried and cried, she kissed me.
I saw the dawn of civilizational abode - Akshardham."
(Poem composed to mark the occasion.)
Today, when I entered into the Akshardham Cultural Complex, I get an answer for the question, how can you mix the spirituality and social service? How can you separate the two? Those who wish to sincerely serve society must be spiritually pure and only those who are spiritually pure can sincerely serve society. That is your motto. Now, I would like to recall an event that took place in Rashtrapati Bhavan at 22.00 Hrs. yesterday.
I met three families who are working in Atlanta. They were three couples and one great banker. All seven of them respect the values of Akshardham. They came a week before and visited Akshardham. I asked each one of them two questions:L
1) What you felt when you entered Akshardham?
2) After your journey through Akshardham, when you were leaving what thoughts came to your mind?
All four male members told me that at the time of entry they felt like, they were entering into a gigantic monument.
When they finished their journey of Akshardham, they uniformly said that it is India?s civilizational heritage in dynamic form. Their hearts cried, O Almighty! Who is the creator of this great phenomenon?
All the three women members said, when they entered they felt they were entering into their own ancient joint family home. When they finished their journey, they cried because they were leaving their great mother India. They felt like that the mother was embracing the child, touching the child, feeling the child and felt the warmth of the mother in every one of them.
But who is the creator? But who is the creator? The creator we saw in the I-MAX Theater. A child wading through rivers, climbing over the snow tipped Himalayas, slips and slips and then climbs and climbs, walking across the nation and discovering cradles of India?s civilization. Who is the child? Can you remember the child? Oh! That is the divine child, the child Swaminarayan. The spirit of the divine child entered into Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj. And we see the birth of the Akshardham, the civilizational heritage of India in dynamic form in front of us.
Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj has inspired thousands of people across the country and abroad and brought together the best of the minds for creating a beautiful cultural complex. It has become a place of education, experience and enlightenment. It creatively blends the traditional stone art and architecture, Indian culture and civilization, ancient values and wisdom and the best of modern media and technology. Multiple layers of this complex expresses the strength of the mind, willpower of the human being, indomitable spirit, flowering kindness, fusion of scientific and medical talent, myriad colors of varied cultures and ultimately the power of knowledge. In essence, it is a dynamic complex with lively images.
... Akshardham has happened at the dawn of 21st century with the commitment and dedication of one million volunteers. What has happened today at Akshardham inspires me and gives me the confidence that we can do it? The realization of developed India is certainly possible before 2020 with the millions of ignited minds like you.
The Mother Embraces Her Children
?My journey commenced, in my ancestral home.
Loving families with multiple cradles,
of the civilization of my nation.
My mother embraced me with love,
I felt the soft touch of my mother?s hand.
I cried and cried, she kissed me.
I saw the dawn of civilizational abode - Akshardham."
(Poem composed to mark the occasion.)
Today, when I entered into the Akshardham Cultural Complex, I get an answer for the question, how can you mix the spirituality and social service? How can you separate the two? Those who wish to sincerely serve society must be spiritually pure and only those who are spiritually pure can sincerely serve society. That is your motto. Now, I would like to recall an event that took place in Rashtrapati Bhavan at 22.00 Hrs. yesterday.
I met three families who are working in Atlanta. They were three couples and one great banker. All seven of them respect the values of Akshardham. They came a week before and visited Akshardham. I asked each one of them two questions:L
1) What you felt when you entered Akshardham?
2) After your journey through Akshardham, when you were leaving what thoughts came to your mind?
All four male members told me that at the time of entry they felt like, they were entering into a gigantic monument.
When they finished their journey of Akshardham, they uniformly said that it is India?s civilizational heritage in dynamic form. Their hearts cried, O Almighty! Who is the creator of this great phenomenon?
All the three women members said, when they entered they felt they were entering into their own ancient joint family home. When they finished their journey, they cried because they were leaving their great mother India. They felt like that the mother was embracing the child, touching the child, feeling the child and felt the warmth of the mother in every one of them.
But who is the creator? But who is the creator? The creator we saw in the I-MAX Theater. A child wading through rivers, climbing over the snow tipped Himalayas, slips and slips and then climbs and climbs, walking across the nation and discovering cradles of India?s civilization. Who is the child? Can you remember the child? Oh! That is the divine child, the child Swaminarayan. The spirit of the divine child entered into Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj. And we see the birth of the Akshardham, the civilizational heritage of India in dynamic form in front of us.
Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj has inspired thousands of people across the country and abroad and brought together the best of the minds for creating a beautiful cultural complex. It has become a place of education, experience and enlightenment. It creatively blends the traditional stone art and architecture, Indian culture and civilization, ancient values and wisdom and the best of modern media and technology. Multiple layers of this complex expresses the strength of the mind, willpower of the human being, indomitable spirit, flowering kindness, fusion of scientific and medical talent, myriad colors of varied cultures and ultimately the power of knowledge. In essence, it is a dynamic complex with lively images.
... Akshardham has happened at the dawn of 21st century with the commitment and dedication of one million volunteers. What has happened today at Akshardham inspires me and gives me the confidence that we can do it? The realization of developed India is certainly possible before 2020 with the millions of ignited minds like you.
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