Festivals reflect India's rich culture, traditions: Venkaiah

Nellore: Former Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, said that India has rich culture and traditions and the best way to pass them on to the posterity, is to celebrate the festivals in true spirit.

Participating in Sankranti celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust in Venkatachalam on Friday, Naidu said that festivals were not just about wearing new clothes and preparation of sweets but also conveying our culture and traditions to posterity and moving forward on the path shown by the elders. He described Sankranti as a festival of farmers which brings the first crop. He said Bhogi conveys the message of leaving the old and moving on the new path, Sankranti conveys the message of respecting the elders and the Kanuma festival gives the spirit of preserving nature and livestock.

He said the same concepts were also reflected in the Constitution of India and the pictures appearing on the first pages of the Constitution reflect Indian values of life such as the sense of duty, service, humanity, knowledge and dharma parayanatva.

Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy hailed Venkaiah Naidu's services to the development of region. Sahasravadhani Vadhiparthi Padmakar explained the uniqueness of Sankranti festival. Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Lavu Nageswara Rao, who was also the guest of honour, said that the great personality of Venkaiah Naidu has not changed, whether he is in office or not. Prizes were distributed to the winners of rangoli competitions held at the premises of trust. Former Minister Kamineni Srinivasa Rao and former DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy were present on the occasion. RS member Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy and District Collector KVN Chakradhar Babu greeted the former Vice President.