Unveiling the statues of three great personalities and renowned litterateurs -Mahakavi Surdas, Babu Balmukund Gupt and Surya Kavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday urged the young generations to follow the path shown by them and work to further applaud our age old rich culture and tradition.
The Chief Minister also announced that he would soon visit Sihi in district Faridabad the native village of Mahakavi Surdas, Gudiani in district Rewari the native village of Babu Balmukund Gupt and Janti Kalan of district Sonipat the native village of Suryakavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand to pay tributes to the great personalities.
Khattar unveiled the statues at the campus of Haryana Sahitya Akademi, Panchkula through video conferencing. Addressing the litterateurs and writers present on the occasion, Khattar said that Mahakavi Surdas, Babu Balmukund Gupt and Surya Kavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand are the sons of Haryana and have devoted their lives to awaken the society.
He said that statues of these great personalities would keep their memories alive and at the same time would also inspire our future generations to draw inspiration from their life values, ideals and principles. He said that their literature is an invaluable heritage of the country and society and it is the duty and responsibility of all of us to keep it safe as it would benefit not only the present but also the generations to come.
Throwing light on the life of three great litterateurs, the Chief Minister said that among the devotional poets of Hindi literature, the place of Mahakavi Surdas is paramount. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. Similarly, Babu Balmukund Gupt was a great litterateur, journalist and heroic soldier of the Indian freedom struggle, who challenged the British rule through his writing. Suryakavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand also worked to awaken the self-esteem of Indians through folk literature, reestablishing the pride of ancient culture of India at the time of independence, he added.
He said that Mahakavi Surdas is considered the emperor of Vatsalya Rasa. He has so vividly described Lord Sri Krishna’s childhood pastimes that the person reading his literature or listening to his poetry gets lost in it. Even though they are not among us today, their creations would continue to guide people for ages, he said adding that his contribution to literature is considered the greatest.