Writers, poets and artistes the world over and regional folk artistes sang devotional poetry of saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram during a bhasha wari (language pilgrimage) held in the city on Friday to recreate the Bhakti tradition.
More than 200 litterateurs at the ongoing 84th PEN International Congress of world writers participated in the ‘singing rally’, which began at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and ended at the Bal Gandharva Rangmandir.
“The three pivotal themes of this year’s PEN based on Gandhian thought are truth, freedom and diversity. The bhasha wari is meant to showcase the diversity of the State’s literature and revive a centuries-old movement,” said writer-translator Dr. T. Vijaykumar, who is also an English professor at the Osmania University in Hyderabad.
The wari featured troupes from Kolhapur, Paithan , Osmanabad, Alandi and other parts, singing abhangs and kirtans of Maharashtra’s greatest poet-saints.
“Maharashtra has had a rich oral tradition of devotional poetry. The Bhakti movement challenged status quo, threw up progressive women poet-saints like Janabai and Soyarabai. It is to showcase this heritage that we came up with the concept of the bhasha wari ,” said Sandesh Bhandare, member of the PEN Congress committee and director of the bhasha wari .
Eminent Spanish poet Carles Torner drew parallels between the Bhakti movement with literature in his native, Spain. “The bhasha wari is an important reminder to keep alive our rich heritage. In Spain, the Catalan language was suppressed during General Franco’s dictatorship, but has now undergone a massive revival,” he said.
This year’s PEN International Congress, which is taking place for the first time in the country, has been so timed to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2, with his autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’ forming its theme.
