Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed a presentation of the Ramayan in Brazil on Tuesday (local time) and expressed his appreciation at the enactment.
Taking to social media platform X, the PM said, “Met Jonas Masetti and his team. I had mentioned him during one of the #MannKiBaat programmes for his passion towards Vedanta and the Gita”.
PM appreciated the endeavour and said, “His team presented glimpses of the Ramayan in Sanskrit. It is commendable how Indian culture is making an impact all over the world”.
The Ramayan was performed by the students of Vishwa Vidya Gurukulam, a Brazilian organisation dedicated to promoting Vedanta and Sanskrit.
The founder of Vishwa Vidya Gurukulam, Jonas Masetti also known as Acharya Vishwanath, welcomed PM Modi by reciting ‘Sanskrit Mantra’.
Speaking with ANI, Masetti said “Ramayan is a tribute to ‘Dharm’.”
“Ramayan is a tribute to Dharm. Ram represents Dharm and performing Ramayan and being in touch with Ram Katha is a way of purifying ourselves and having like a better way of living. It took like six years (to prepare). In the beginning, we were very nervous and emotional because it meant a lot to us,” he said.
Masetti said that PM Modi was “very impacted” from the performance. He also encouraged Indian youth to believe in Indian way of life.
“I’m very glad that he could receive that… I get very sad when I hear that the youth in India are not so much interested in the Vedic tradition and all the old ways. I have to tell you that the way of the West, you think is very dry and very poor, so don’t fall for that. You have a very nice culture inside your home,” he said.
PM Modi who is on a three nation visit where in Brazil where he attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brazil and held various interactions. During his visit to Brazil, the Prime Minister appreciated various cultural performances which were performed and brought attention to the depth and diversity of the Indian culture.