‘Ramayana is testimony to Indian culture’

The characters in Ramayana are a testimony to the greatness of Indian culture, well-known speaker K Sripathi Halagunda said on Wednesday.

He was delivering a talk at Maharshi Valmiki Jayanti programme organised by the district administration and Zilla Panchayat in the city on Wednesday.

He said that Valmiki, who was born in a community of hunters, proved that talent is not the property of a particular community. He became an ambassador of Indian culture, by penning the great epic Ramayana. On reading the epic poem, one develops a humane perspective in life, he said.

“The distorted versions of Ramayana are an insult to the original work,” Halagunda lamented. The character of Rama in Ramayana, is pro-people. There are values of patriotism, ideal companionship, leadership and truth in Ramayana. Critic A K Ramanujan had said there are 300 interpretations of Ramayana in the world, he said.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) C Satyabhama, members Jasanta Anil Kumar, Kavita Lingaraju and Ravindra Belavadi and Maharshi Valmiki community leader Bhimappa was present.