Narayana Gurukulam celebrates centenary

Udhagamandalam: Narayana Gurukulam, a spiritual landmark in Ooty, is all set to celebrate its centenary on Sunday.The centre was founded by Nataraja Guru in 1923 with permission from Sri Narayana Guru who was a spiritual leader and social reformer for advanced study in philosophy, mysticism and related subjects.Nataraja Guru died in 1973 and was succeeded by Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, an erudite philosopher and writer. “Yati was the inspiration behind the ‘Save Nilgiris Campaign’ (SNC), which was one of the earliest environmental movements in the country. It was the guru’s love for the Nilgiris that motivated SNC to create mass awareness in the Nilgiris about ecological degradation,” said director Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) Dharmalingam Venugopal.On the eve of the Save Nilgiris Run in 1988, Yati, also an environmentalist, wrote on the progress of SNC: “We need three major steps to be taken to hold our natural heritage intact. 1. Conservation of flora and fauna of Nilgiris 2. Preservation of our ecological balance 3. Consciously turning every wasteland into a garden of exquisite beauty. The whole of Nilgiris can be declared as our National Park…’ He passed away in 1999.The centre stands for knowledge without boundaries, respect for the environment and acceptance of divergent paths, added Sivadas, founder of NGO NEST.