Kalyan Parva, an annual congregation of Basaveshwara devotees, began in Basavakalyan near here on Friday. The three-day festival will include religious lectures by experts, Vachana recitals and cultural programmes.
The former Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, inaugurated the festival.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Singh said that Lord Basaveshwara had propounded the principles of equality, fraternity and dignity of labour even before well-known writers like Karl Marx spoke of these things.
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The Congress leader said that there was a need to popularise Lord Basaveshwara’s works in foreign languages.
He praised Mate Mahadevi for her contributions in developing Basavakalyan and Kudal Sangam into places of pilgrimage.
He recalled his association with Lingananda Swami, who was the guru of Mate Mahadevi. Mr. Singh said he was pleased to find out that some students of Columbia University were conducting a research on Lord Basaveshwara.
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Gyani Darbara Singh of Gurudwara Guru Nanak Jhira, and others spoke. Dancers Divya Kollur and Vaishnavi Hiremath presented a Bharatanatyam performance.
Meanwhile, a few organisations like the Basaveshwara Temple Trust Committee have opposed the Kalyan Parva saying Mate Mahadevi had no moral grounds to organise an event around Vachanas as she faced charges of changing the Ankita Nama of Vachana writers.