Govinda Pai's renovated house to be open by month-end

Project Gilivindu aims to convert his residence into a national cultural centre

The renovation of the house where the first Rashtrakavi of Kannada, M Govinda Pai lived, is complete under the Gilivindu project. The house, located in Manjeshwar, about 30-km from Mangaluru, is likely to be inaugurated by December-end and will be attended by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Speaking to reporters, M Veerappa Moily, Chikkaballapur MP and chairman, Rashtrakavi Govinda Pai Memorial Trust, said that ‘Gilivindu’ was a joint project of the Karnataka and Kerala governments and was headed by a Trust. The project was named after a collection of poems by Govinda Pai.

Though Malayalam poet Vallathol was conferred the Rashtrakavi award along with Govinda Pai, a lot of works were taken up in memory of Vallathol, while justice was not done to Govinda Pai. Hence, the project Gilivindu, which aims to turn his house into a national cultural centre, where study, research and workshops in fine arts and performing arts would be held, said Moily.

Nalanda — the restoration of poet’s residence at a cost of Rs 88 lakh, without harming the old structure. A Yakshagana museum is constructed inside the house at an estimated cost of Rs 19 lakh. Another art museum will also come up inside the house. The work on Bhavanika, a new auditorium with a seating capacity of 800, was taken up at a cost of Rs 2.98 crore and will be completed by month-end. Another Rs 1.50 crore will be required for acoustic and sound system. Of the three guest houses — work on ‘Vaishaki’ and ‘Saketha’ were nearing completion and ‘Anand’ will be taken up at a cost of Rs 18 lakh, Moily said.

Open air theatre
An open air theatre — Bodhiranga will also come up. In phase II of the project, an annexure building with library, study room, archives to store old documents, dormitory for student scholars, a kitchen with dining hall, will be taken up. The work on compound wall was taken up at a cost of Rs 6 lakh. A metal bust of the poet will be installed in the open verandah of the residence and work was in progress, Moily said.

Kasargod District Collector Jeevan Babu, who was also present, said that though Govinda Pai was a well-known poet in Kannada, not many in Kerala know about his works. There is a need to translate Pai’s works to Malayalam, he added.