Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee to usher in Karkidakam with Ramayana recital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the CPM, it is the turn of the Congress to observe Ramayana month. The KPCC Vichar Vibhag will organise a month-long campaign from the first day of the Malayalam month of Karkidakam. The programme will be inaugurated by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala at Gandhi Bhavan here on July 17, the first day of Karkidakam. It will start with a Ramayana parayanam from 8.30 a.m. Mr Sashi Tharoor MP will deliver a lecture on ‘Ramayana is ours. It is the goodness of the country.’ Others who will take part in the programme include DCC president Neyyatinkara Sanal, former TRIDA chairman P.K. Venugopal and artist Kattoor Narayana Pillai, former chairman of Lalithakala Akademi.

KPCC Vichar Vibhag district chairman Vinod Sen told Deccan Chronicle that various programmes, including Ramayana parayanam and cultural meetings, were being organised in different parts of the district as part of the campaign.
Ramayana reading in the month of Karkadakam is part of the culture of the state. This also emphasised the love of the state towards reading and letters, said Mr Sen.

“Ramayana, the epic, is the common heritage of everyone who lives in this country. It cannot become a monopoly of any one group or political party. The culture and goodness associated with Ramayana should be preserved for the coming generation,” said Mr Sen. “Nowhere else in the world a book is taken up for reading for a whole month. This illustrated how important the tradition of reading is to the people of the state. Now this tradition is being hijacked by a set of people with ulterior motives. The book does not belong to any caste or creed as propagated by communal groups,” said Mr Sen.