Nine-day Kannada Sahitya Ratha tour from Saturday

98 Gram Panchayats are to be covered by the ratha, which will be taken out from Madikeri to the rural areas of Kodagu to apprise the people of the glorious culture of Karnataka and its rich traditions.

A “Kannada Sahitya Ratha” will be taken out from Madikeri on Saturday to rural areas of Kodagu on a nine-day sojourn with the message of the 80th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, scheduled to be held in Madikeri from January 7.

The field publicity committee of the sammelan is taking out the ratha from its office at the D. Devaraj Urs Bhavan in Madikeri at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday, president of the committee T.G. Prem Kumar said in a statement here on Thursday.

This was a preliminary step to apprise the people of the importance of the sammelan and invite them to the meet, he said.

The 54th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan was held in Madikeri in 1981 presided over by writer Shamba Joshi.

Senior writer Na. D’Souza would preside over the 2014 sammelan, Mr. Kumar said and added that the ratha would cover all 98 gram panchayats in the district to provide information on the sammelan and invite them to participate in it.

The ratha would carry the portrait of the president of the sammelan and Jnanpith award winners from the State.

People would be apprised of the glorious culture of the State and its rich traditions, Mr. Kumar said.

Artiste B.R. Satish has designed the sammelan ratha. Pamphlets on the sammelan would be distributed among the people during the visit, Mr. Kumar said.

Principal convenor of the committee H.B. Shivananda said that the executive officers of the three taluks would be in-charge of the tour.

Training

Members of the field publicity committee were imparted training on Thursday to handle their jobs during the sammelan, by honorary general secretary of the Kodagu District Kannada Sahitya Parishat B.A. Shamsuddin.

Mr. Shamsuddin said that all members should have adequate knowledge of all aspects related to the sammelan to guarantee that the delegates were not short of any information.

Chief Minister invited

Meanwhile, president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Pundalika Halambi, Kodagu district in-charge Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, Mysore-Kodagu MP A.H. Vishwanath and president of the Kodagu unit of the parishat T.P. Ramesh invited Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the sammelan by handing over an official invite to him in Bangalore on Thursday, a release said.