Organisers of the 83rd Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, starting at Mysuru on November 24, are trying to make this edition a different experience.
For a start, this year’s event will have the president taken around the city in a ‘sarotu’ (horse-drawn chariot), decorated with Mysuru Mallige (Mysuru jasmine) patronised by the Wadiyars of Mysuru.
The procession will commence from Kote Anjaneyaswamy temple, on the premises of the Mysuru palace, and reach Maharaja College Grounds, the venue of the sammelana, said Manu Baligar, KSP president.
As the event is returning to Mysuru after 27 years and is being held in the home constituency of the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the government has “generously” released funds for the celebration, say officials.
“This is the fifth time Mysuru is hosting the sammelana,” said Mr. Baligar.
Mr. Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the sammelana and writer H.S. Venkatesha Murthy will deliver the valedictory address.
To mark the event, 50 writers, intellectuals and artists, including Jnanpith recipients Girish Karnad, Chandrashekara Kambara, and writer K.S. Nisar Ahmed have been invited to participate in the three-day event.
Issues concerning education, women, Dalit empowerment, social justice, Kannada tradition, question of diversity among others things are to be discussed in the sammelana.
Besides them, social movements, neglected communities, technology are also some of the topics to be touched upon by scholars. It has been planned that three volumes, Vikasa Karnataka Samuta, Mysuru Nudi Mallige and Sahitya Sangatya, will be brought out. There will two parallel platforms for programmes and there will be six platforms in various parts of city for cultural programmes.
“The royal city will be decorated on the lines of Dasara celebrations. Welcome arches and hoardings showcasing Kannada and culture will be erected across the city,” said Y.D. Rajanna, president of the Mysuru district KSP.
