The Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Maghar in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh today and paid homage to the great saint and poet, Kabir on the occasion of 500th death anniversary of the great saint. He offered floral tributes at Saint Kabir Samadhi and offered Chadar at Saint Kabir Mazaar. The Prime Minister also visited the Saint Kabir Cave, and unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of Foundation Stone of Saint Kabir Academy, which will highlight the great saint’s teachings and thought.Union Minister of State for Culture (I/C) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma and Union Minister of State for Finance, Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Shri Yogi Adityanath among others were present on the occasion.Later speaking at a public meeting, the Prime Minister said that a wish which he had for years, had been fulfilled, by paying homage to the great saint Kabir, at the hallowed land of Maghar, where legend says that Saint Kabir, Guru Nanak and Baba Gorakhnath, had engaged in spiritual discussion.The Prime Minister said that Sant Kabir Academy, to be built at a cost of about Rs. 24 crore, would create an institution to preserve the legacy of Sant Kabir, as well as regional dialects and folk arts of Uttar Pradesh.The Prime Minister said that Sant Kabir represents the essence of India's soul. He broke the barriers of caste, and spoke the language of the ordinary, rural Indian, Shri Narendra Modi added. He hoped that the teachings of Sant Kabir would help us give shape to the vision of New India.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of State for Culture (I/c), Dr. Mahesh Sharma said that Sant Kabir’s life, words and deeds are on the lines of philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. He said that Kabir’s unmatched legacy has united all sections of society and we can easily find the message of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ in his teachings. He added that the Ministry of Culture is untiringly working to celebrate a series of events on the lives and deeds of Great men that made India a Great nation.The two day festival has been organized by the Ministry of Culture to present the glory of Kabir’s literature while featuring various folk music and dance along with musical theatre performances in which artists and artisans from all over country are participating in the festival.On the 1st day of the Mahotsav, the people of Maghar witnessed the diverse genres of classical artists, contemporary Varanasi-centric ensembles and folk troupes offering the perfect blend of the historic and the contemporary performances based on Sant Kabir . In the main cultural event program the Prime Minister witnessed the performance of Malvi folk song and bhajan on Kabir by Shri Bheru Singh Chauhan and Bharti Bandhu.The festival will culminate tomorrow and program scheduled for tomorrow are Performance of local groups, Kabira Khada Bazar Mein directed by Shri Azhar Alam,Kolkata, Mirasi Sufi singing by Shri Anwar Khan, Jaisalmer, Baul singing by Shri Ravidas, Abhang singing by Shri Vijay Pandey, Sufiana kalam by Shri Muktiyar Ali and Performances of various folk dances from different states.