Date:21/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/21/stories/2008032159830900.htm

Tamil Nadu

“Youth drifting away from religion”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Chhattisgarh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan has regretted that values are declining, and the younger generation is moving away from the religion.

He was inaugurating the three-day national seminar on “Religion and Philosophy of Vaishnava Agamas” organised here on Thursday by the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute and sponsored by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi.

Mr. Narasimhan said the Vedas were India’s gift to mankind. It was also disappointing to note that the youths were on a “fast-track life.”

K.K.A. Venkatachari, founder director and retired professor of Ananthacharya Indological Research Institute, Mumbai, and Lakshmi Thatachariar, a scholar, spoke on the importance of Vaishnava Agama studies.

B. Madhavan, secretary of the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, said the seminar would have six sessions, and four papers would be presented in each session by research scholars and experts focussing on various aspects of the Vaishnava Agamas.