Monday, July 2, 2007

President announces World Culture, Heritage Day to be celebrated in Maldives next year

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has announced that the international World Culture and Heritage Day is to be celebrated in the Maldives starting next year. He made the statement at the inauguration ceremony of the four day seminar on Maldives History and Heritage organised by the National Centre for Linguistic and Historical Research.

The inauguration ceremony was held Sunday afternoon at Dharubaaruge. In his opening remarks, President Gayoom stated that the reason behind this was to create awareness and interest among the people on the historical sites and landmarks of the Maldives. World Culture and Heritage Day is celebrated on April 18.

President Gayoom stated that every nation’s history and heritage was very important and that Maldives too, has a very significant history. He noted that awareness programmes on Maldivian historical sites had not been conducted sufficiently and emphasized that all sectors need to work collectively and diligently in promoting awareness in this field.

In his speech, the President highlighted that the most significant of our heritage is the Holy Quran. The President also noted that like many other Muslim countries, some hand written scriptures of the Holy Quran have been preserved in the Maldives too.

During the ceremony, President Gayoom was presented with a commemorative plaque by the National Centre for Linguistic and Historical Research. The Plaque was presented by the President of the Centre Abbas Ibrahim.

On arrival at Dharubaaruge the President and the First Lady were greeted by Abbas Ibrahim and his wife. The senior members of the Centre for National Linguistic and Historical Research were also present to greet the President and the First Lady.

After the inauguration, the President also met and spoke with the participants of the seminar.

Source: Haveeru

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