In commemoration of the Hindi Diwas on 14 September 2021, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), the cultural arm of the High Commission of India, organized a series of events and competitions. These activities focused on promoting Hindi by providing a platform to Hindi enthusiasts in Sri Lanka to express their literary and linguistic talents. Considering the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, these activities were organized in a virtual mode.
The event was celebrated with great zeal and fervour with participation of around 100 Hindi enthusiasts, scholars, teachers and students from all over Sri Lanka. Special video messages from the Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr S. Jaishankar and Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture, Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi were played at the event. Led by Most Venerable Dr. Maitipe Wimalasara Maha Thera, the Chief Incumbent and Director of Param Dhamma Chaitya Pirivena, Ratmalana, venerable monks and lay devotees, studying Hindi language, also joined the celebrations.
The celebrations involved recitals of Hindi poems, songs, as well as music and dance performances on Hindustani and Bollywood Music. A special session of the program was also dedicated to visually challenged enthusiasts. The focus of the program was to encourage inclusiveness and promote Hindi language and literature in order to strengthen millennia-old cultural, linguistic, literary, and religious ties between India and Sri Lanka.
As a part of the Hindi Diwas celebrations, island-wide online Hindi competitions, such as Hindi video message competition, Hindi storytelling competition and Hindi poem recitation competition are being organized throughout the month of September, 2021.