Chennai: Just like India cannot sustain without agriculture, it cannot live without Vedas, said noted columnist and chartered accountant S Gurumurthy at the valedictory of the Inter-Padashala Vedic competition organised by Om Charitable Trust at Sri Krishnaswamy Kalyana Mandapam, T Nagar, here yesterday.

“India is a sacred land. Rishis, Nayanmars, Alwars have all contributed to make it a spiritual land. Vedas have played a major role in this country,” he said.

“I have a guilty feeling that I haven’t read the Vedas. The beauty of the Vedas will be known only to these scholars,” he added.

As many as 450 students participated in the Inter-Patashala Vedic competition and the winners were given prizes. Contests were held in Rig, Shukla Yajur, Krishna Yajur and Sama Vedas and the students were judged by eminent pundits in their respective Vedas.

Students from all four southern States and Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal have took part in this competition.

The three-day event, ‘Vaidikavinjyana Vikasini Karyakrama’ (programme on development of Vedic wisdom) was inaugurated by renowned Upanyasakar Brahmasri Ananthapadmanabhan.

The prizes were won by Raja Veda Kavya Patashala of Kumbakonam in Rig Veda, Aarsha Vidya Gurukulam Jaimini Sama Veda Patashala of Palakkad in Sama Veda, Jayendra Saraswati Veda Patashala of Medinipur, West Bengal in Shukla Yajur and Chandrashekara Bharathi C.Sekharendra Saraswathi Vidyalaya of Coimbatore in Krishna Yajur.

Dr Balaji Srinivasan, one of the main forces behind the Om Charitable Trust, was also present. Managing director of MM Forgings Vidhyashankar Krishnan distributed the prizes.

Mahamahopadhyaya Brahmasri Dr R Krishnamurthy Sastrigal, managing director of MM Forgings Vidhyashankar Krishnan, Sundaram Finance Ltd managing director TT Srinivasaraghavan and Yaghyappa Somayaji also participated in the valedictory.

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