Scholar Hampa Nagarajaiah (Ham. Pa. Na.) has underlined the need for a comprehensive study of Banjara language and its culture.
He was speaking at a two-day national conference on ‘Banjara language, society and culture’, organised by the Department of Kannada Language Studies and Banjara Language Centre at Kannada University, Hampi, on Friday.
“Banjaras are a nomadic tribe. They are hard-working and have contributed a lot to the development of the country. Having their own culture, tradition, customs and rituals, the community members who are about five crore in number and spread all over the country, have been struggling to nurture and conserve it mainly because they do not have a script of their own. It is essential to do a comprehensive study of their language and how it changed over the years, among other things, and document it in Devanagari script,” he said.
Rudrappa Lamani, Minister of State for Textiles and Hindu Religious Endowments, who inaugurated the conference, said the State government was committed to the development of Banjara language and also the welfare of the community. He said that the Chief Minister had released ₹3 crore for the development of Banjara language, with which a study centre was opened in the university. Apart from that, Suregondanakoppa in Honnali taluk of Shivamogga district, which is the birth place of ‘Sevalal’, a saint from the community, was being developed as a pilgrim centre, he said.
Mallika Ghanti, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said they would do their best to achieve the goal for which the study centre was set up.
