Tributes paid to Swami Vivekananda on birth anniversary in Ongole

Ongole: To direct society into development, the youth should take the right path, preached Swami Vivekananda, said the Prakasam district collector Dr Pola Bhaskara.

He participated in the 158 birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda and paid rich tributes by garlanding his statue at the Kothapatnam Bus Stand centre in Ongole on Tuesday.

In the programme hosted by the youth services department, the collector said that India is a country where people from diverse backgrounds and religions live united in peace and harmony. He said that Vivekananda attracted the attention of the world towards India by preaching about universal brotherhood. He asked the youth to follow the footsteps of Vivekananda and his lifestyle of unity in diversity. He said that the government announced January 12, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda as the National Youth Day and distributed the medals and certificates to the winners of the Youthfest.

The BJP IT Cell convener Rayapati Ajay Kumar, Mathampalli Durgesh, Ravulapalli Nagendra Yadav, and others also paid tributes to Vivekananda as part of his birthday celebrations by garlanding the statue.

The Ongole JCI members organised the birth anniversary celebration of Swami Vivekananda and garlanded the statue on Hydari Club premises.