Lucknow Feb 27 (PTI) Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday paid floral tributes at Sant Ravidas temple in Varanasi on his birth anniversary and said his party is committed towards working on his teachings of equality and brotherhood.

The SP chief visited Sant Ravidas Seer Govardhan temple and accepted 'prasad' there besides seeking the blessings of Swami Niranjan Das, the main mahant of the temple, a party statement said.

Sant Ravidas was a social reformer, revolutionary and independent thinker and strongly opposed wrong practices. His entire life was dedicated towards unity, brotherhood and equality in the society. According to him, serving mankind is the real dharma, the statement quoting Yadav said.

The followers of Sant Ravidas are present in all parts of the country. Sant Ravidas used to regard dignity of labour as supreme and had given the message of brotherhood, equality, compassion and goodwill, Yadav said, adding that the philosophy of the seer who had given the the message "man changa to kathoti mein Ganga" is an inspiration for the entire society.

A function to mark the birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas was also held at the party headquarters in Lucknow where leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, Ahmed Hasan, state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel and other leaders garlanded his picture.

Similar functions were also held at all district offices of a party, the statement added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)