Page 19 - programmes conducted during year 2016

rates, and addressing the problem of malnutrition in a country where 3,000 children die
every day due to lack of nourishing food.
Curtains were drawn on the event with Sri Veerappa Moily, MP, in his valedictory
speech quoting from Ramayana and Mahabharata to reiterate that their ethical core is the
lifeline of Indian society. He drew from his own five-volume epic, ―Ramayana
Mahanveshanam‖, to reinterpret the ―Rama Rajya‖ of yore to present times, within a ―secular
framework‖.
Chief Guest Sri Manu Baligar, President, Kannada Sahitya Parishath, felt Mahakavyas
could be popularized by organizing workshops for youngsters, appealing to BVB to take up
the task.
Cultural programmes, centring on Mahakavyas, rounded off the academic sessions on all
days.
Conference highlights:
—Book launch—Message of Mahapuranas—a compilation of the 2014 national conference
—Recitation and singing of excerpts from Mahakavyas
—Eight sessions with seven speakers each
—50 scholars from across India including Kashmir
—Epics from 10 Indian languages
—Epics from two foreign languages—Latin and Greek
— Topics ranged from Ramayana and Mahabharata to classical Sanskrit works, Kambha
Ramayana, What Mahakavyas Mean To Me, Pancha Mahakavya‘s in Telugu, Folk Epic
Traditions in Hindi, Telugu, Epic Traditions in Persian, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kashmir,
Tulu, Kodava, Homer‘s Illiad and Odyssey (Greek), Aenid of Virgil (Latin), and Divine
Comedy of Dante (Italian).
—Book exhibition of BVB publications. 

Felicitations to eminent epic poets Prof. Reva Prasad Dwivedi of Varanasi and
Dr. T.V. Venkatachala Shastry of Mysuru (sitting extreme right and left)