President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday released a postage stamp commemorating the 200 years of the Orthodox Theological Seminary or Old Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that for nearly 14 centuries, the three major religions of Kerala, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam have existed in peace and harmony, respecting each other's belief and cooperating to promote social welfare.
In fact, Kerala was the first state in the country in which both Christianity and Islam took roots with people voluntarily choosing different religious beliefs. The Old Seminary was set up by the Malankara Orthodox Church situated in Kerala, a state known for the peaceful co-existence of different religions and communal harmony.
The Seminary and the Orthodox Church played their part in achieving this goal which led to the state realizing the complete separation of spiritualism and communalism.
The lighting of oil lamps in and around churches, the raising of the flagstaff and flags during festivals and the custom of entering the Churches barefoot are all Hindu traditions that have become a part of the church practice.
These bear testimony to the sharing of traditions by both the religions.
