Books worth ₹96 lakh sold during Dasara Book festival

Books worth a total of ₹96 lakh were sold during the ten-day-long Dasara book festival held at at Scouts and Guides Grounds in the city as part of Dasara 2025.

The Kannada Book Authority, which organised the Dasara Book Festival from September 22 to October 1, sold books worth ₹82,000 while other publishers, academies, authorities, universities and Kendriya Sahitya Academy together accounted sale of the remaining ₹95.18 lakh.

Sharing these details at a press conference in Mysuru on Monday, authority chairperson Manasa said a total of 94 stalls had been put up at the book exhibition.

Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj S. Tangadagi, who inaugurated the exhibition, also released “Booker Banu”, a book authored by B. Shivanand on the life and works of Booker prize winning writer Banu Mushtaq.

For the first time, the organisers flagged a chariot to spread awareness about the Dasara book festival to draw more visitors. The chariot, which was flagged off by Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru Lakshmikant Reddy from Kuvempu statue in Manasagangothri, went around the city to publicise the Dasara book festival, said Mr. Manasa.

Also, for the first time, books were released at the Dasara book festival. Writers and publishers were invited to submit applications for the same and a selection committee finalised a list of 28 books, which were released during the Dasara Book festival.