Kannada Jain Sahitya Sammelana in S'belagola on Dec 30, 31

The Kannada Jain Sahitya Sammelana will be organised ahead of the Bahubali Mahamastakabhisheka in Shravanabelagola, Hassan district on December 30 and 31.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Hampa Nagarajaiah, advisor to the committee, said, "We are already conducting Sanskrit conference, women's conference and youth conference. We are conducting the Kannada Jain Sahitya Sammelana towards the end."

He also said Dr Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala, will inaugurate the conference at 10.30 am on December 30. Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swami will take part in the event.

There will be eight conferences on various aspects of Jainism and society. Retired vice-chancellor of Kannada University, Hampi, Prof B A Vivek Rai, will deliver the valedictory speech on December 31, Nagarajaiah said.

P Y Rajendrakumar, chairman of the conference, said writers Chandrashekara Kambara, S L Bhyrappa, Venkatachala Shastri, S P Patil, K S Nissar Ahmed and others will be felicitated during the Sammelana.

Preparations for Mahamastakabhisheka

S Jeetendra Kumar, committee executive officer of Mahamastakabhisheka festival, said the preparations for the Mahamastakabhisheka were underway. "Preparations are being made for the festival which will be held from February 17 to 25. We are preparing ourselves to host 20,000 guests, including digambaras who are coming on foot for the event from different parts of the country. We are expecting 35 lakh to 40 lakh people to participate in the nine-day festival," he said.