Rain plays spoilsport at Chikmagalur Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations

The 56th Kannada Rajyotsava programme organised by the district administration which started off with colourful procession accompanied by tableaus on Thursday, was interrupted by rain that lashed heavily in the city.

As the programme started at Netaji Subhashchandra Bose district ground, the downpour began. As various troupes taking part in the march past parade were drenching, District-in-Charge Minister D N Jeevaraj ended his Rajyotsava speech in between and allowed the cultural programme teams to move out of the ground. The NCC cadets offered respect to Nadageethe by drenching in the rain.

The Minister received guard of honour under the protection of umbrella.  The audience who had come to the ground to be a part of the programme had to take shelter in the stadium gallery. When the award function was going on, the pendal fell on one side due to the heavy rain.

Rajyotsava address

Minister D N Jeevaraj in his Rajyotsava address, emphasised on the need for every Kannadiga to preserve and promote Kannada language, culture, tradition, richness and heritage. Giving a call to all Kannadigas to take a pledge to preserve Kannada, he said Kannada is a language that has been recognised as one of the richest languages in India. Having gained classical status and being the home for eight Jananpeeth awardees, Kannada has only proved time and again that it is the rich language.

“The State government has given importance to usage of Kannada in administrative work. Everybody should join their hands in the mission to implement Kannada in administration to 100 per cent. The government is stern on its decision to provide primary education in Kannada. There will not be any compromise in this regard,” he said.

Speaking about developmental work, he said the emphasis will be on promoting tourism in the district as Chikmagalur has huge tourism potential. More facilities will be provided in the tourism centres to attract more number of tourists, he said.

A total of 18 achievers from various fields including literature, art, education, social service, journalism, sports, culture were conferred with awards on the occasion.

The tableaus were taken out in a procession at the end of the programme. Cambridge school presented Hoysala tableau, Basavanahalli Mahilashrama presented Adikavi tableau, Sai Angels’ School presented Bhuvaneshwari, Sun Rise school depicted Tippu Sultan. The first, second and third prizes were given to Cambridge school, Sun Rise school and Sai Angels’ school respectively.MP Jayapraksh Hegde, MLC Gayatri Shantegowda, Deputy Commissioner S T Anjan Kumar, Superintendent of Police Shashikumar and others were present.