Dasara poets’ conference to be held from Sept. 23 to 27 in Mysuru

This year’s Dasara poets’ conference will be held from September 23 to 27 and the five-day poetry programme will be topped by simultaneous rendering of the State anthem ‘Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate’ by thousands of students and musicians.

The mass rendering of the ‘Naada Geethe’ will take place on the opening day of the conference and is set to be one of the show-piece events as this year marks the centenary of the State anthem, according to the organisers. M.K. Savitha, Registrar, University of Mysore, told presspersons here on Saturday that thousands of students and noted musicians will join in unison to sing the anthem on the inaugural day of the conference at the Open Air Auditorium on Manasagangotri campus.

Speaking after releasing the poster of the Dasara poetry conference, which will be conducted under the joint auspices of the Dasara Kavighoshti sub-committee and the University of Mysore, Ms. Savitha said that it is an act of homage to the poet laureate Kuvempu.

Around 15,000 to 20,000 students from various colleges, along with 100 reputed music ensembles and celebrated vocalists, will together sing the ‘Naada Geethe’ as a tribute to Kuvempu, she added.

Lolakshi, secretary of the Dasara Kavighoshti sub-committee, said this year’s conclave will be hosted over five days at the B.M. Sri Hall of the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies, Manasagangotri. It will be inaugurated on September 23 and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will also be present, she added.

Each day will be marked by a special theme and the first day’s conference will be inaugurated by Aravinda Malagatti, a professor. It will be a veritable confluence of emotions with renderings by child poets, senior poets, and young voices from Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya, Kodagu, and Chamarajanagar districts.

On September 24, the event will be inaugurated by lyricist Jogi Prem and will be a forum to reflect on the concept of ‘Kannada Identity’,and poets representing marginalised communities in the society, like orphans, the differently abled, gender minorities, civic workers, etc., — will share their lived experiences.

The events on September 25 will be inaugurated by Pramod Maravante, and the key programme will be a duel of short verses with a dash of humour. Nanjayya Honganuru, a renowned folklorist, will inaugurate the programme on September 26 with artists bringing alive folk songs. The auditorium will also resound to the tune of kamsales, tamburas, flutes, etc.

On the last day on September 27, poets from 31 districts will make their presence felt through poetry, and the event will be inaugurated by writer and litterateur C.P. Krishna Kumar. Deputy Special Officer G. Somashekar and Dasara poetry sub-committee members were among those present.