Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (16 February) spoke in four different languages -- Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, and Hindi -- at the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the Shri Jagadguru Vishwaradhya Gurukul in Varanasi and won a resounding applause for it.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that he was fortunate to get the blessings of saints and seers. He said that Veershaiva tradition encouraged people to rise above virodh (opposition).

"Nation is run not by power but by sanskriti, We must introduce the young generations to our spiritual heritage and show them the path from bhakti to mukti," he said.

The Prime Minister said that the Jangambadi Matth could create an app in order to digitalise spiritual knowledge. "We can use technology to spread knowledge," he said.

He said that as a representative of Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, he was happy to see that people had started taking the responsibility of cleaning the Ganga. "The Namami Gange project has shown good results only because of people's participation," he said.

Talking about the Ram temple, Modi said that with the setting up of the trust, temple construction would begin soon and all this was possible with the blessings of saints.

The Jangamwadi Matth is one of the oldest Matths in Varanasi. Literature dates it back to Satyuga -- first of the four Yugas in Hindu timeframe. The documented historical records date it back to 8th CE, however, it is hard to verify the exact date. It is said that Raja Jaichand donated land for this Jangamwadi Mutt that has seen an unbroken lineage of 86 Jagatgurus.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)