When the whole world was celebrating the wonder of love on the occasion of the Valentines Day, children in different schools and institutions in city on Friday worshipped their parents to mark the day.
Worshipping of fathers and mothers was encouraged by the Yoga Vedanta Samiti of Odisha. The Samiti at its Khandagiri office organised an event where around 800 parents with their children were present to observe the ritual. The children worshipped their parents like gods and goddesses by offering flowers. later, the parents blessed the children and wished their good future. “It was really a wonderful experience to get worshipped by my own child. It is a healthy trend to stop vulgar tradition imported from foreign countries,” said Susant Samal from Unit-8.
According to Vedanta Samiti member Brundaban Rath, the Samiti had organised the function in 25 schools in the city where around 8,000 parents were worshiped by their children. To sensitise the people about the significance of the worshipping parents, the Samiti distributed 10,000 books, he informed.
Meanwhile, couples fearing the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) didn’t want to choose parks for dating. On the contrary, there was big rush at hotels, restaurants and food parks in the city, where the love birds shared their feelings. They chose these places in order to escape ‘moral policing’.
However, determined to stop vulgarism on the day, the Bajrang Dal activists conducted raid on small hotels, restaurants, malls and food parks. Police arrested 52 Bajrang Dal activists in Cuttack as they created a scene for not being allowed to enter into certain places, while in the capital city the raid by the activists was by and large peaceful.