The colourful procession of president of the 84th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana Chandrashekar Kambar was the cynosure of all eyes on the inaugural day of the three-day literary festival.
Thousands of Kannada enthusiasts who have descended on Dharwad — the cultural capital of north Karnataka — , lined up on either side of the 5-km-long procession route from Karnataka College to the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) campus, the venue of the sammelana.
Dr. Kambar, accompanied by his wife, Satyabhama, and president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Manu Baligar were brought to the venue in the procession in a specially decorated vehicle. Minister in charge of the district R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Municipal Administration C.S. Shivalli, Deputy Commissioner M. Deepa and others paid floral tribute to Sri Siddappa Kambali, Aratal Rudragoudar, and Rodda Srinivas Rao before the procession was flagged off.
Folk artistes sounded 25 bugles at a time to kickstart the colourful procession. Dharwad skies were awash with the hues of Kannada flag as a large number of yellow and red balloons were released in the air.
The ‘Poornakumbha’ procession by women, which had drawn criticism by various women’s groups and progressive associations, was held as scheduled. Despite the criticism, the parishat had clarified that the procession was open to all women and men.
Artistes performing more than 60 art forms such as Dollu Kunita, Somana Kunita, Gombe Kunita, Veeragase, Jaggalige, Kolata, and Nagari added traditional flavour to the procession and depicted the rich cultural heritage of the region.
A large number of schoolchildren holding the Kannada flag participated in the procession.
Residents of buildings located along the procession route had decorated their premises and drawn rangolis outside their houses and shops. The procession took more time than expected to reach the venue because of participation of a large number of Kannada enthusiasts.
Despite traffic diversions, the roads leading to the UAS-Dharwad campus were choked with vehicles.
