President Kovind addresses annual convocation of Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday addressed the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in West Bengal and called his visit a pilgrimage as it was here that Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore frequently met each other.

The University was founded by the late Nobel Laureate Tagore.

President Kovind said, "It is indeed my privilege to be here at Santiniketan. This is one of those blessed sites that reimagined our civilizational values that define India. This is the place that infused new energy in our national life."

He said, "I come here not only as a visitor or Paridarsaka, but equally as a humble pilgrim and a seeker for the answers to our eternal quest for wisdom. I bow to the founder of this great seat of experiments in learning and living."

"I call this a pilgrimage because the two greatest visionaries of modern India, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, frequently met here," the President added.