National Youth Day 2023: Swami Vivekananda’s birthday, January 12, is commemorated annually with National Youth Day. The government organises the National Youth Festival each year on this occasion in collaboration with a state that is ready to host from January 12 to January 16. This year Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the festival on January 12 in Huballi, Karnataka.
January 2023 Current Affairs Quiz
The basic objective of National Youth Day is to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to showcase their talents in various activities to cover almost all socio-cultural aspects of life, providing an opportunity to amateur young artists to express themselves and interact with fellow artists and to further learn the new art forms from experts of various disciplines.
Theme of National Youth Festival
According to the Centre, the festival is staged to give youths exposure on a national scale, and the four-day program’s theme this year is “Viksit Yuva – Viksit Bharat (Developed Youth – Developed India)”.
This year host state of National Youth Festival
The festival is being put on this year by the Karnataka and the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. The event will be held from January 12 to January 16, 2023, at Hubballi- Dharwad, Karnataka. More than 30,000 youth will attend the inaugural function where the Prime Minister will share his vision with them. During this unique five-day event, over 7500 youth delegates from all over India, recognized and leaders in their own field of activity, get together to engage in different learning activities.
History of National Youth Day
The government declared January 12th, the date of Swami Vivekananda’s birth, as “National Youth Day” in 1985. Since then, all the centres of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission have been celebrating the occasion through various programmes.
About Swami Vivekananda
- Swami Vivekananda, who was given the name Narendranath Datta on January 12, 1863, was a student of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, an Indian mystic from the 19th century. He went on to become a key figure in the introduction of the Indian darsanas (teachings, practices) of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness.
- Vivekanand was highly regarded as a major force in the contemporary Hindu reform movements in India and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.
- He became well-known for his address at the Chicago Parliament of World Religions in 1893, where he spoke of channeling the youth’s energy.
- As his teachings and practices had a huge influence on the youth, the Government of India in 1984 declared January 12 day as National Youth Day.
