May be the three States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are entangled in legal disputes on issues ranging from sharing of inter-State river waters and rights over territories in border regions. But that has not come in the way of a group of personalities drawn out from cultural and literary world to undertake Sagara Theera Yatra (a cultural pilgrimage along the coastline) from the land’s end at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Gokarna in Karnataka.
Sunday saw Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of State for Surface Transport, flagging off the 946 km journey from Kanyakumari, the confluence of the three oceans, which surrounds the three States. Music maestro Gangaiamaran, novelist ArvindNeelakantan and a host of eminent personalities were present to greet bon voyage to the travellers, described as a first-of-its-kind pilgrimage in the country by Prof PG Haridas, coordinator of the Yatra.
Minister Radhakrishnan said this pilgrimage passing through the three States is an attempt in search of the common roots of the region which united people and families in the past. “The theme of the pilgrimage My land, My language and My Culture itself is self-explanatory. This pilgrimage which will tour through the places of all cultural and historical importance in the 946 stretch should be able to revive our culture and traditions which we lost because of external aggression,” said the Minister.
The significance of choosing Kanyakumari and Gokarna is due to the belief that this stretch of landscape was reclaimed out of the ocean by Sage Parasurama who threw his machete from Gokarna towards the south. legend is that the land thus reclaimed by the Sage was distributed to the poor as an atonement for his sins. S Ramesan Nair, the Kanyakumari-born poet who is the leader of pilgrimage , said this is an attempt to prove that though the people in the three states speak different languages and follow distinct traditions, there is an underlying thread which unites them.
“languages and traditions arise out of difference in landscapes and topography. But the bond which unite us is strong,” said Nair who is credited with the translation of great Tamil epics like Thirukural, Silappadikaramand Akanannooru to Malayalam. He said the team would visit all places of historical importance along Kanyakumari-Gokarna stretch and ay their obeisance to martyrs and literary giants who had dedicated their lives to propagate the concept of India and the Indian culture.
The team members are also spreading the message to preserve rivers and water bodies. “We will tell the people that rivers, lakes and water bodies are nature’s divine gifts to the humanity. It is our responsibility to preserve them like we preserve our places of worship,” said Prof Haridas.
Monday saw the pilgrims visiting the ancestral home of C V Raman Pillai, the legendary novelist who penned historical novels like MarthanadaVarma, Dharma Raja and Ramaraja Bahadur, rated as literary monuments in Malayalam.
The journey has evoked considerable importance in all the three States. A civic reception is being held at Kochi on Friday which will see ace space scientist G Madhavan Nair and Bollywood super star Mukesh Khanna flying down to felicitate the travellers. leaders of various political parties including the Congress are joining the civic reception to honour the team members of Sagara Theera Yaatra.