Festival of spiritual, cultural heritage: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated the country on the start of Maha Kumbh, calling it a festival of India's spiritual and cultural heritage. He wished a successful organisation of the 'panoramic view' of spirituality, devotion and faith.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on the occasion, said, "I bow to crores of deities, devotees and saints, and pray for the welfare of the country."

Kharge said the month and a half long congregation of crores will see sadhus, saints, sects and the common man rise above differences of caste and class, and introduce the 'great Indian culture' to the world. Leaving behind untouchability and discrimination, they will embrace the values of 'unity in diversity' and send out a message of harmony and brotherhood, he said.

Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru's reference to Mahakumbh in the 'Discovery of India', Kharge said the festival finds mentions in the descriptions of Chinese pilgrims written 1,300 years ago, and 'even then these melas were ancient and lost in an unknown antiquity'.