The royal city of Mysuru is all set to host the 83rd Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelan and over four lakh participants are expected to attend the three-day event.
Mysuru, the cultural capital of Karnataka, is hosting what is described as Akshara Jatre (Festival of Letters) for the fifth time in the history of the Kannada Sahitya Sammelan. It was held for the first time in Mysuru in 1917, exactly a century ago, and H.V. Nanjundaiah was the president of the sammelan then. The last edition here was held in 1990 and poet K.S. Narasimha Swamy chaired the event. Being the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, no stone is being left unturned to make the event a success.
The return of the literary festival to Mysuru after nearly 27 years gains significance as it’s a time when assertion of cultural identity is seeing a renewal, with claims for a State flag, opposition to imposition of Hindi, and insistence on teaching Kannada in schools. President of the sammelan, Chandrasekhar Patil is expected to ask for a commitment from political parties to make Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction in their poll manifesto.
The city of Mysuru is decked up for the three-day event with arches erected at five entry points of the city to welcome over 11,000 delegates and 5,000 literary personalities from various parts of the State and country. Manu Baligar, President Kannada Sahitya Parishat, said, “As many 50 literary personalities, including Jnanpith recipients will be felicitated on the occasion.” Huge portraits of eight Jnanpith recipients have been put up at important locations to create a cultural and literary ambience.
Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Mantapa at historic Maharaja College ground is where the main event will be held.
Two parallel platforms named after writers Nanjanagudu Tirumalamba and De. Javare Gowda have been created to hold symposiums and seminars. There are four platforms for showcasing the culture of the land.
A colossal pandal, adopting German technology with seating for over 30,000 people, has come up at the Maharaja College Grounds.
The main entrance is named after Male Mahadeshwara, deity of Male Mahadeshwara Hills (a pilgrim centre of Chamarajanagar).
Space has been created for over 800 stalls for exhibiting books, artifacts and other items. According to the organisers, there is an enthusiastic demand from the publishers to display and sell their books, and priority has been accorded to them.
