The Hindu celebrates 125 years of publication

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Pioneering column

 

The Religion column of The Hindu, a dream-come-true for the then

Publisher, Kasturi Gopalan, will complete 40 years next April. The

column, on religious discourses rather than on religion as such,

first appeared on Sri Rama Navami in April 1964. It has continued

uninterrupted. The objective, from the very beginning, was to place

before the readers the ideas on moral values as depicted in the

scriptures and explained in lectures by scholars and speakers

proficient in scriptural literature.

 

Kasturi Gopalan was uncompromising in his view that all the

directives for the development of an integrated personality were

available in the two epics and the Puranas. He was also keen on the

choice of the most qualified scholars whose lectures were reported in

the column.

 

The topics were later widened to cover lectures by eminent experts on

saints, the Bhagavad Gita and the Peria Puranam. Over the years, the

column also began to publish reports on the religious significance of

important occasions such as Guru Nanak Day, Mahaveer Jayanthi,

Christmas and Meelad-un Nabi.

 

The column which The Hindu pioneered became overwhelmingly popular.

In response, a collection of the published reports on discourses from

the year of introduction till 1994 has been brought out in book form

titled, "The Hindu Speaks On Religious Values."

 

 

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