MANDYA: The three-day 87th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelan was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the outskirts of the city on Friday. Earlier in the day, reception committee chairperson and Agriculture Minister A H Cheluvarayaswamy hoisted the flag.
Litterateur and Sahitya Sammelan president, Nadoja Go Ru Chennabasappa was taken out in a procession which was flagged off by Adichunchanagiri Math seer Dr Nirmalanandanatha Swami by sounding the traditional drums. Women carrying ‘poornakumbha’, artists performing Veeragase, Kamsale, Dollu Kunita and other traditional folk dances, along with the police band and tableaux, accompanied the procession.
The procession covered a distance of about 6 km with over 100 cultural troupes, students and Kannada lovers participating. The Sammelana venue, the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, arterial roads and junctions in Mandya were adorned with the Kannada flag colours. Kannada enthusiasts from different parts of the state are in Mandya for the Sammelan.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lit the traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the meet. A book exhibition and other stalls were also inaugurated at the same time. A Kannada translation by Go Ru Chennabasappa of a book on the political persecution in medieval times was also released.
The CM, who expressed happiness to be participating in the Sammelan, said , “This is a celebration of Kannada and Mandya district has contributed immensly to Kannada literature. The people of Mandya have the power in them to teach Kannada to anyone from any part of the world. This land of pure Kannadigas has the essence of secularism”, he said.
Apart from seminars, there will also be cultural programmes. Arrangements have been made for meals for the participants including Mandya and North Karnataka style food. To avoid rush of people, 140 food counters have been set up. On the first day on Friday, there was idli-vada, upma, Mysuru Pak for breakfast and meals with Holige for lunch.