Puri (Odisha) President Droupadi Murmu, who is on a four-day visit to Odisha, spent time at a beach in Puri on Monday morning.
On Sunday he witnessed the annual Rath Yatra in the coastal pilgrim town.
Later, he wrote down his thoughts about his experience of being in close communion with nature.
"There are places that bring us closer to the essence of life and remind us that we are part of nature. Mountains, forests, rivers and coasts appeal to something deep within us. As I walked along the seashore today, I felt a communion with the environment: the gentle wind, the roar of the waves and the immense expanse of water. It was a meditative experience," Murmu published in X.
He said that it brought him a deep inner peace that he had also felt when he had a darshan of Lord Jagannath on Sunday.
Murmu claimed that she was not the only one who had such an experience, saying: "All of us can feel this way when we encounter something that is much bigger than us, that sustains us and that makes our lives meaningful."
In the hustle and bustle of daily routine, people lose this connection with Mother Nature. Humanity believes that it has dominated nature and is exploiting it for its own short-term benefits and the result is visible to all, the President stated.
Murmu said many parts of India suffered a terrible series of heat waves this summer.
Extreme weather events have become more frequent around the world in recent years. The situation is expected to be much worse in the coming decades, he said.
"More than 70 percent of the Earth's surface is made up of oceans, and global warming is causing global sea levels to rise, threatening to submerge coastal areas. The oceans and the rich variety of flora and fauna there are found to have suffered a lot due to different types of pollution," he stated.
Murmu said that fortunately, people who live in the lap of nature have sustained traditions that can show us the way.
The inhabitants of coastal areas, for example, know the language of the winds and waves of the sea. Following our ancestors, they worship the sea as God, he added.
"I believe there are two ways to meet the challenge of environmental protection and conservation: broader steps that can come from governments and international organizations, and smaller, more local steps that we can take as citizens. They are both, of course , , complementary. Let us promise to do what we can do – individually, locally – for the sake of a better tomorrow. We owe it to our children," the president wrote in X.
The President arrived in Bhubaneswar on the afternoon of July 6 on a four-day visit to her home state of Odisha. She witnessed Rath Yatra in Puri on Sunday and spent the night and morning in the pilgrim town.
On Sunday he witnessed the annual Rath Yatra in the coastal pilgrim town.
Later, he wrote down his thoughts about his experience of being in close communion with nature.
"There are places that bring us closer to the essence of life and remind us that we are part of nature. Mountains, forests, rivers and coasts appeal to something deep within us. As I walked along the seashore today, I felt a communion with the environment: the gentle wind, the roar of the waves and the immense expanse of water. It was a meditative experience," Murmu published in X.
He said that it brought him a deep inner peace that he had also felt when he had a darshan of Lord Jagannath on Sunday.
Murmu claimed that she was not the only one who had such an experience, saying: "All of us can feel this way when we encounter something that is much bigger than us, that sustains us and that makes our lives meaningful."
In the hustle and bustle of daily routine, people lose this connection with Mother Nature. Humanity believes that it has dominated nature and is exploiting it for its own short-term benefits and the result is visible to all, the President stated.
Murmu said many parts of India suffered a terrible series of heat waves this summer.
Extreme weather events have become more frequent around the world in recent years. The situation is expected to be much worse in the coming decades, he said.
"More than 70 percent of the Earth's surface is made up of oceans, and global warming is causing global sea levels to rise, threatening to submerge coastal areas. The oceans and the rich variety of flora and fauna there are found to have suffered a lot due to different types of pollution," he stated.
Murmu said that fortunately, people who live in the lap of nature have sustained traditions that can show us the way.
The inhabitants of coastal areas, for example, know the language of the winds and waves of the sea. Following our ancestors, they worship the sea as God, he added.
"I believe there are two ways to meet the challenge of environmental protection and conservation: broader steps that can come from governments and international organizations, and smaller, more local steps that we can take as citizens. They are both, of course , , complementary. Let us promise to do what we can do – individually, locally – for the sake of a better tomorrow. We owe it to our children," the president wrote in X.
The President arrived in Bhubaneswar on the afternoon of July 6 on a four-day visit to her home state of Odisha. She witnessed Rath Yatra in Puri on Sunday and spent the night and morning in the pilgrim town.
