B M Hegde to chair Zilla Sahitya Sammelana

The 23rd Zilla Kannada Sahitya Sammelana will be held at Town Hall in the city from January 29 to 31.

MAHE former vice-chancellor Prof B M Hegde will preside over the meeting, Zilla Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Pradeep Kumar Kalkura told reporters here.

He said that the Sammelana will take to start with flag hoisting by District In-charge Minister U T Khader on the Town Hall premises at 9.30 am. Kalkura will hoist the Kannada flag and Mayor Bhaskar K will hoist the convention flag.

A procession of Goddess Kannada Bhuvaneshwari will be taken out from Bunts Hostel Circle to Town Hall at 3 pm. Zilla Panchayat President Meenakshi Shantigodu will flag off the procession. Cultural troupes will take part in the procession.

The formal inaugural function will be held at the B M Idinabba Stage on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya premises at 4.30 pm. Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Theertha Swami and Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha will grace the occasion. Minister Khader, Mayor Bhaskar K, MLA D Vedavyas Kamath, novelist Na D’Souza and others will be present.

As a part of ‘Vidwath Sanmana’, Kannada Sahitya Parishat former president Harikrishna Punaroor will felicitate P Ganapathy Acharya, Dr Leo D’Souza, Prof Surendra Rao, Prof B M Ichlangod, Dr K V Rao, D Shankar Bhat, Nagesh A Bappanadu, Mogarnadu Janardana Bhat, Vamayya Udyavara, Bottikere Purushottama Poonja, Vittala Ramamurthy, M Narayana and Bhavani Pergade.

Various other achievers will be felicitated with ‘Kannada Siri’ honour. The cultural programmes will be inaugurated by Saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth S Senthil will release the books published by Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

Various sessions and cultural programmes will be held on all the days of the literary fest.

The valedictory programme will be held at 4.30 pm on January 31. Hampi Kannada University former vice-chancellor Prof B A Vivek Rai will deliver the valedictory address.

Kalkura said that around 100 stalls will be put on the Town Hall premises, featuring literary works and other items.