"Our civilisation promotes tolerance, accepts differences and respects dissent," Mukherjee told reporters at his ancestral home here in Birbhum district.
"This (Durga) Puja is not only a worship, but a festival. It integrates all sections of the society besides conveying a message of harmony and peace," Mukherjee, who is visiting his ancestral home on occasion of Durga Puja, said.
"We must recognise the underlying message of the Durga Puja and convey it in our actions," the President added.
The President's remark has come after the attack on a Dalit family in which two toddlers were burnt alive and their parents sustained serious injuries allegedly by upper caste people in Haryana's Faridabad.