Evil social tendencies can harm India's culture: President

President Pranab Mukherjee today said "evil social tendencies" could harm India's culture.
"The values of love, harmony, peace and sacrifice signify strengths of India's culture," he said while inaugurating the Vedic Cultural Centre of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) here.
Many "evil social tendencies" seen at present could harm these values which need to be nurtured, the President said, adding Indian culture has never spread through conquest or deprivation.
Modern nationalism may be new to India but it is the place of oldest civilisation of the world which promoted love and renunciation, he said.
"Indian culture, Indian civilisation, Indian teachings never compartmentalised man. It never promoted fragmentation and instead promoted peace and renunciation," Mukherjee said.

Lauding the efforts of ISKCON, he called upon the vedic centre to dedicate itself to the cause of humanity by spreading the message of peace, harmony, love and compassion.

"Today I am told ISKCON movement runs 600 temples across the world. Everyday it provides food to 10 million children daily in India," Mukherjee said.
ISKCON has grown in a short span of time as a movement of high velocity, he said, adding "the movement promoting Krishna bhakti was a representative of the saying that nothing can prevent an idea whose time has come."
The vedic centre built in the six acre campus of ISKCON aims to be educational, cultural landmark of the city and offers daily classes 'Shrimad Bhagwatam' and 'Bhagwad Gita' for everyone.

The building houses a replica of Balaji Temple of Tirupati, meditation hall for about 2000 people, an upcoming fine dining restaurants offering vegetarian cuisines and a multi-media theatre.
The vedic centre will provide value-based training and education for children, courses in behavioural sciences for youth, activity-based learning for girls and stress-management courses for corporates and managers.