Bharath Foundation Trustee Sunil Kulkarni speaks to mediapersons in Mangaluru on Thursday.
Credit: DH Photo
Mangaluru: The eighth edition of two-day Mangaluru Lit festival organised by Bharath Foundation will be held at TMA Pai convention centre in Mangaluru on January 10 and 11.
Dedicated to promoting the "Idea of Bharat," the festival will pay tribute to the legendary novelist SL Bhyrappa, with a dedicated session titled "Literature inspired by Bhyrappa." The sessions will be conducted by Shatavadhani R Ganesh and GB Harisha, said Bharath Foundation Trustee Sunil Kulkarni.
He said Mangaluru Lit Fest Award 2026 will be conferred on Member of Rajya Sabha and historian Meenakshi Jain during the inaugural session. A special interaction session with Meenakshi Jain will be held.
Distinguished thinkers including former RAW Chief Vikram Sood, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, and Ambassador TS Tirumurti will participate in the Lit fest sessions.
Explaining the sessions, Kulkarni said Vikram Sood and Dr Sriparna Pathak, Professor of China Studies, and the founding Director of the Centre for Northeast Asian Studies at OP Jindal Global University will discuss on "global power sames," while Ruchira Kamboj, Dr Swasti Rao, journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, and Dr Bidanda Chengappa will deliberate on India’s neighborhood relations. TS Tirumurti, Dr Sreeram Chaulia, and Vijit Kanahalli will explore "Indian thought in a globalized world."
Under art, media, and literature category— Shatavadhani Dr R Ganesh and Dr Ajakkala Girish Bhat will speak on "The search for values through literature." Representing the media world, Smita Prakash (Editorial Director, ANI), Padmaja Joshi, and Surabhi Hodigere will discuss how digital news is shaping the public sphere.
The session "Film and thought" will feature P Sheshadri, Malavika Avinash, and Pallavi Rao Karanth. Journalist Vishweshwar Bhat’s book "Badukulidavaru Kandante" will be discussed by Shrikant Shetty Karkala. Popular actress Ranjani Raghavan, Poornima Suresh (Su From So), and author Seema Burude will participate in a session on "Imagination, narrative, and camera." Additionally, a traditional puppetry (Bombeyata) performance by Ujjwala Krishnaraj will be a key attraction.
Kulkarni said that there will be a session on Sanskrit under the title “Chinnara angala” by Sanskriti Bharathi, Mangaluru. In addition, a session on Kodava language will also be part of the lit fest. A session on Tulu script to promote Tulu script along with book exhibition and sale will be held, he added.