Ahmedabad, 25 September 2013

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi is visiting Kerala today evening. Following are the details of his Kerala visit.

Shri Modi will fly to Kerala from Bhopal and as Chairman of party’s national campaign committee, he will address the Kerala state BJP unit’s meeting .

On Thursday, September 26th, Shri Modi will visit Padmnabh Swamy temple and garland Mahatma Ayannakalini’s statue.

Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The shrine is run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore.

Ayyankali (1863–1941) was a leader of the backward class. He pioneered many reforms to improve the lives of the backward class people. In 1937 he was praised by Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Venganoor, Ayyankali’s home town. In November 1980, a statue of Ayyankali was opened at Kowdiar square, in Trivandrum. Vellayambalam Junction is in an elite Nair upper middle class area. It is at the meeting point of roads from the Kowdiar Palace and Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The Maharaja has to pass Ayyankali Statue on the way to and back from the temple for his regular prayers. Ayyankali is considered India’s first labour leader. Ayyankali demanded right for backward class children to study in school. He started a school to teach backward class children at Venganoor. He called for boycott of agricultural work raising certain demands. His demands included (a) stoppage of the practice of not giving tea in tea shops to Dalits who were given tea till then in coconut shells; (b) right to education for Dalit children; (c) resting time for workers during work hours; and (d) replacement of the system of wages in-kind by payment of cash. By 1900 Dalits were given the freedom to walk on public roads, and by 1914, Dalit children were allowed to join schools. Dalit women were allowed to cover their nakedness in public through his efforts.

Shri Modi will then hold a meeting with Maharaja of Travankor. The titular Maharaja fulfills his duties as Maharaja of Travancore in rituals related to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma III is present Maharja since 1991.

Shri Modi will also visit Mata Amrutanandamayi on her 60th birthday and participate in the function at Amruta Vishwa Vidhyapeetham.

The 60th birthday celebrations of spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi in Amritapuri will be held from September 25 to 27 in presence of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

According to a statement from the Mata Amritanandamayi Math around five lakh people are expected to attend the celebrations, titled ‘Amritavarsham 60’. On September 25 and 26, an international summit, titled ‘Our Villages, Our World: What Can We Offer?’, will be held on Amritapuri campus of Amrita University. The concept is to use the ideas generated by the summit and implement them in 101 village adoption programme.

The inaugural function will include addresses by A P J Kalam, eminent scientist M S Swaminathan and Nobel laureate Leland H Hartwell. On September 26, Shri Narendra Modi will unveil a number of new scientific inventions and prototypes by Amrita University that are to be offered to the society. These include a wireless ECG-monitoring system called ‘Amrita Spandanam’ and a personal safety alert system, that has more than 15 features, for women in distress.

A programme to adopt 101 villages across the country, with the intention of making them self-reliant role-model villages would be launched on September 27. On the evening of the same day, Oommen Chandy will inaugurate a set of new charitable ventures of Mata’s ashram.

Shri Modi will fly to Tamil Nadu in the afternoon after completing his Kerala programmes.