Om Birla Releases Stamp at Gayatri Parivar Centenary

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla addressed the Shatabdi Samaroh 2026, the centenary celebration organised by the Gayatri Parivar in New Delhi on 31 October 2026, and paid tributes to Acharya Shriram Sharma and Mata Bhagwati Devi. He also released a commemorative postage stamp brought out in honour of Mata Bhagwati Devi.

What the centenary marks

The celebration marks the completion of 100 years of three things together: the birth of Mata Bhagwati Devi Sharma, the appearance of the Akhand Deepak, the ever burning lamp, and the penance and spiritual practice of Acharya Shriram Sharma. Devotees and members of the Gayatri Parivar from India and abroad attended. The Speaker said the occasion was not merely a remembrance of the past but a celebration of a creative movement that has changed countless lives across the country.

On Acharya Shriram Sharma

The Speaker said that through Akhand Jyoti the Acharya spread the light of spiritual consciousness across the country and drew people to the ideals of building the individual, the family, society and the nation. His call, we will change and the era will change, became a guiding thought for people in India and outside it, and through the Gayatri Mantra and yajna he connected people with spiritual awareness. Birla said he had himself seen the effect of this philosophy in far off villages and hamlets, where it helped people get past hard circumstances, superstition and harmful social practices.

On Mata Bhagwati Devi

Birla described her life of compassion, penance, dedication and service, and said her work went past spiritual awakening into social change and the empowerment of women at a time when women faced many restrictions. The Mahila Jagran Abhiyan begun under her leadership in 1975 was, he said, a far sighted effort that pushed women to recognise their own strength and take an active part in building society. She urged women to study, to build confidence and to become self reliant.

Other points from the address

The Speaker praised the organisation for carrying India's spiritual heritage and value based philosophy to several countries, and commended the university founded by the Acharya for its stress on character building from the earliest stages of education. He lauded Dr Chinmaya Pandya for taking Indian spiritual traditions to the world while keeping people abreast of developments in science and technology, and asked the Gayatri Parivar to carry the light of Akhand Jyoti to every village until the last person in society is touched by it.