Learn discipline from sun

Vijayawada: Remembering Sun God, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the people to draw inspiration and discipline from the Sun as He works round the clock. 

As part of Sun worship, he offered ‘arghyam’ in Hindu tradition, asked ‘dua’ in Islamic tradition and offered prayers as per Christianity. Naidu said the Sun is the brand ambassador of Andhra Pradesh. 

Launching the Surya Aaradhana programme at IGMC stadium here on Sunday, the Chief Minister said other states in the country had celebrities as their brand ambassadors, while the AP government had chosen Sun as its ambassador because of its importance in the day to day life of human beings. 

The government would celebrate Surya Aaradhana as state festival on the first Sunday that follows Radha Sapthami every year. The Sun rises from Andhra Pradesh first since the state’s coast forms middle portion of the entire eastern coastline, Naidu said and pointed out that the state was named as Sunrise State for Sun’s natural importance. The state government believes Sun god would help in overcoming challenges, he hoped.     

Surya Aaradhana belongs to all religions, he said and pointed out that heads of all religions had clarified it from the ancient days. Praying to Sun is honoring science. The people of various castes and religions should pray to Sun, he asserted.

He termed government’s prayers to nature as official programme for the first in the history. Quoting Bible, Quran and Hindu scriptures, Naidu said various procedures are laid down in them on prayers to the Sun.  

He said the Sun provides solar energy and stressed the need for tapping solar energy and wind power to prevent pollution and to reduce power tariff. Describing the Sun as Justice Chakravarthi, the Chief Minister said the Sun provides equal justice to all regions.

The Chief Minister said though technology is essential for the development and for this one should protect the nature. Nature provides numerous benefits to the people. The government had introduced various programmes like Neeru-Chettu, Krishna-Godavari Pushkarams and Vanam-Manam programmes for creating awareness on their importance.  

The Chief Minister said Surya Aaradhana would help in protecting health of the people. He said everyone should offer prayers to the Sun for fifteen minutes every day to protect their health. The challenges like breast cancer, BP and cholesterol also could be controlled from sunlight, he explained.  

Thousands of students took part in the programme and offered Surya Aaradhana. Minister Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao, MP Kesineni Srinivas, MLC Budha Venkanna, MLAs Gadde Rammohan, Bonda Umamaheshwar Rao, Bode Prasad, Collector B Lakshmi Kantham and several officials were present.