Bargur Ramachandrappa | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO
Dialogue is the basic principle of democracy because it accommodates tolerance, agreement and disagreement, said thinker Bargur Ramachandrappa.
Mr. Ramachandrappa delivered the 96th lecture organized by Jayadevitai Ligade Pratishtana in association with Basavakalyan Engineering College on ‘Kannada Literature: Equality and Harmony’ here on Sunday.
He said that harmony arises from the coexistence of plurality and unity and literature plays a vital role in maintaining this balance.
Lamenting the shrinking space between reason and provocation and between truth and falsehood, he said Kannada literature has historically opposed caste hierarchy, gender discrimination and social exclusion.
“Tradition is dynamic, while convention tends to be rigid. Culture often embodies movement and inertia at the same time,” he noted.
Mr. Ramachandrappa said that literature becomes the voice of its times whenever equality and social peace are threatened and urged writers and readers to shoulder this responsibility.
Kannada, he noted, was collectively shaped by Jains, Lingayats, Brahmins and Christians, making it inherently inclusive and egalitarian.
Referring to Vachana literature, he said that it only gained wider literary recognition after the 1970s, after which it began to be studied from multiple perspectives.
“Vachanakaras shaped the Kannada intellectual tradition,” he said, highlighting concepts like “body as temple” and “work as worship” as transformative ideas that democratized devotion.
He also emphasized that nature itself does not recognize hierarchies.
“Just as the sandalwood tree and the thorn bush are equally important in nature, harmony lies in emotional unity and cultural plurality,” he said.
Bidar University Vice-Chancellor BS Biradar, who participated as the chief guest, said that Kannada literature consistently teaches lessons of equality and harmony and this needs to be reinterpreted in contemporary contexts.
Principal Jayadevitai Ligade Pratishtana Bhimasankar Biradar, Principal Basavakalyan Engineering College Ashok Kumar Vanagire, Vice Principal Arun Kumar Yalal, actor Akanksha Bargur and several scholars and writers were present.
Published – 25 Jan 2026 19:08 IST
