Senior BJP leader LK Advani said on Sunday that Hindus should be proud of Hinduism and Hindutva, just like Christians and Muslims are of their religion. Speaking at the Soundarya Lahari Vaibhava programme organised by Vedanta Bharati, Advani said adhering to Hindutva ideology should not be seen as supporting communalism.Impressed to see such a mass congregation of women and children at Palace Grounds, who had assembled to recite Soundarya Lahari composed by Shankaracharya, he said such a unique function reflected the spiritual history of the country. “The very thought of Adi Shankaracharya invokes an image of a super-human. He was an organiser, poet, saint and a symbol of national integration, all rolled into one and was also the first one who organised the tradition of Kumbh at Prayag,” he added.Advani further said that Shankaracharya sought to make India spiritually one too. The senior BJP leader further added that world over scientists are still grappling to find answers to fundamental questions on life and science. But Shankaracharya and the Indian tradition had shown that science without religion was incomplete. Elaborating on the beauty of Soundarya Lahari, he said that it was a poetical celebration of womanhood and mothers. “Shakti is celebrated in various forms around the country as Kali, Durga, Kamaki, Chamundeshwari, etc. During the freedom movement, Bharat Mata was the epitome of this Shakti,’’ he added.Shankaracharya’s philosophy taught that all Indians are one, said Leader of the Opposition.
