New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that it was important for people to encourage youth to ensure that the dream of a Viksit Bharat (developed India) is realised. PM Modi was addressing a program to mark the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Gujarat's Vadtal.
"I and you, we should all encourage people for a Viksit Bharat (developed India). We should encourage people, especially young minds, to realise the dream of Vikshit Bharat. We have to live every moment to realise it. We have to remain connected to this thought (of Vikshit Bharat). For this, everyone should start participating and contributing from wherever they are," PM Modi said while addressing the gathering virtually.
PM Modi said that the first condition to realise the dream of a developed India was to make the country self-sufficient. There was a need to defeat actions of people that focus on dividing the country on caste and gender lines, he added.
"We often say that the first condition to realise the dream of Viksit Bharat is to make India self-sufficient (Aatm Nirbhar). And for that, no one from the outside will come but only we'll have to do it (make India self-sufficient). We can start this by promoting 'Vocal for Local.' We will have to ensure unity to make this happen. Unfortunately, some people want to divide the country in (relation to) caste, gender and other things for their personal gains and conservative thinking. It is important that we understand the seriousness of the same. We will have to ensure that such actions are defeated," the Prime Minister said.
"Lord Swaminarayan has told us that a nation can only go towards development with the help of young minds. For this, we have to focus on educating young people. Skilled youth is required. Whenever I meet leaders from other countries, they tell me that they want young people from India to come and work in their countries because they are attracted to the skills of Indian youth. The youth here is not only getting prepared for solving this country's problems, but also the world," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that it was important to safeguard youth from drug abuse and addiction. "We will constantly have to work on this. This country can only develop when such things are taken care of first," the Prime Minister said.
"Swaminarayan community has always worked very hard on de-addiction. Our saints and Mahatmas can make a huge contribution to keeping the youth away from addiction and making them drug-free. Such campaigns and efforts are always necessary to save the youth from addiction and we will have to do this continuously...Now the example of Ayodhya is in front of all of us. After 500 years, a dream has been fulfilled. The transformation of Kashi and Kedar is in front of us...A new consciousness, a new revolution is visible everywhere. Not only this, there was no one to look for the hundreds of years old idols stolen from our country, today after searching and finding our idols which were stolen from the world, the forms of our gods and goddesses which were stolen are returning to our temples," he said.
Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Vadtal has been influencing the social and spiritual life of people for many decades.
The temple in Vadtal, also known as Vadtal Swaminarayan serves as the spiritual capital of the Shree Swaminarayan Sampradaya, which has spread across the world today. This temple was built on the command of Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan by Sadguru Shree Brahmanand Swami and Sadguru Shree Aksharanand Swami.
The temple is built in a lotus shape, symbolizing the spirit of harmony among all religions. It includes depictions of past avatars of gods and goddesses. The nine domes on the temple adores the elevation of the temple.
The pillars of the temple bear colorful stone carvings. The construction-work was completed within 15 months. The walls of the temple are decorated with colorful representations from the Ramayana.
—ANI