Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Nov 22: Opposition leaders of Mangaluru City Corporation have appealed to the mayor to rename the Central railway station here after reformer and philosopher Sri Narayana Guru. A delegation led by opposition leader Abdul Rauf submitted a memorandum in this regard to mayor Diwakar.

In the memorandum, the opposition leaders stated that Sri Narayana Guru had set foot in Tulunadu after arriving here by train in 1908. "The Central railway station should thus be named in memory of Sri Narayana Guru who reformed the society," they stated, proposing that the new name should be 'Sri Narayana Gurudeva Railway Station'.

"At a time when Sri Narayana Guru was uplifting the underprivileged and backward classes in Kerala, a few Billawa leaders from Mangaluru went to Kerala and succeeded in bringing him to this city. He arrived by train at Central railway station in 1908 and touched the lives of people here. The year 1908 should therefore be written in golden letters in the annals of Mangaluru's history," the delegation said.

In the memorandum, the opposition leaders also recalled that when the Billawa leaders urged Sri Narayana Guru to build a temple for them, he chose a spot at Kudroli where divine flowers grew. He laid foundation for Shree Gokarnanatheshwara Temple at this site, which went on to become world famous. He also encouraged his disciples and followers to seek knowledge and get trained in occupational and agricultural skills. Hence the Central railway station should be named after Sri Naryana Guru in order to preserve and promote his principles and values, the delegation said.

Corporator Shashidhar Hegde, Lancelot Pinto, A C Vinayraj, Lathif Kandak, Naveen D'Souza and others were part of the delegation.