Belagavi Sahityotsava, a literary festival organized in Belagavi saw a large turnout of writers and thinkers on Sunday.
Various cultural programs were organized as part of the day-long festival at KLS Institute of Management Education and Research (IMER).
Veteran writer Raghavendra Patil kicked off the literary festival with the release of Gurudevi Huleppanavaramath. He urged the youth to use social media wisely. He said that the human spirit should remain independent and not be a slave to technological tools. “Modern technology seems to develop demonic tendencies in people. Music and literature have the power to remove this. Therefore, we need to develop a taste for music and literature in children,” he said.
Writer and translator Chandrakant Pokale, who chaired the event, spoke in favor of independent literature festivals. “Several Marathi organizations are organizing Marathi literature festivals in many villages. We can do the same,” he said.
Convenor Shirish Joshi said the event was the first such literary festival organized by Parimala Publications and Parimala Cultural Channel. We have tried to combine different types of art like music, literature, drama. It will be an annual affair, he said.
Writer PG Kempannavar spoke on “The Poetic Heritage of Belagavi District”. Journalists Devu Pattar and MK Hegde participated in a panel discussion on ‘Cultural Responsibilities of the Media’.
NS sridharamurthy of bengaruru delivered a lecture on da ra bendra’s work “Nakuthanti” in connection with the Golden Jubilee award of jnanpith Dr. Bendrem.
Basavaraja Jagajampi, LS Shastri, Gundenatti Madhukar, Sridhar Hukkeri and others participated in the session on wit and humor.
Prakash Garud, Raghu Kammara, Ramakrishna Marathe, Aravind Kulkarni, Ravi Kotaragasti and others spoke on contemporary theatre. Sangeetha Patil and HB Rajashekar spoke on ‘Me and My Book’. Gurupada Mariguddi gave a lecture on the novels of Kuvempu.
Shyamasundara Bidarakundi delivered the valedictory lecture. Writer Sarjoo Katkar, BS Gavimath and Sharanaya Mathapati compared and others were present. The event was supported by District Sahitya Pratishthan, Rangasrishti, Bijapure Harmonium Pratishthan and IMER.
Published – 03 Dec 2025 18:58 IST
