Kathmandu: Two days Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu kicks off at Nepal’s Capital city Kathmandu in the presence of eminent personalities of who represent the world of literature, Art, Culture, media and public services in Nepal and India. Noted writers Dr. Jagman Gurung, Tulasi Diwasa, Ashok Vajpeyi, Kanak Mani Dixit, Maya Thakuri, Prasanna Srivasatva, DCM Indian Embassy in Nepal from the field of literature took part in the inaugural of the festival. LIC Nepal, CEO, L.P. Dash, Surya Nepal Vice President, Vikas Bhutra, KLF Kathmandu Director – Ranjana Niraula, KLF Founder, Rashmi Ranjan Parida join the inauguration.
All Speakers hail Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) which is one of the leading Literary festivals in World from India for hosting Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu from this year. Kalinga-Kathmandu Yashswi Sahitya Sanman established by Kalinga Literary Festival in association with Yashaswi Prangya Pratisthan of Nepal. The award has been a novel way to acknowledge and honour, literary legend of both countries. This year Kalinga-Kathmandu Yashswi Sahitya Sanman given to Legendary Nepalese writer Satya Mohan Joshi, Legendary Indian writer Ashok Vajpeyi.
Kalinga Literary Festival is well known for its socially relevant themes and in a way compels all ‘creative’ people to think and articulate ‘the contemporary’. Like its past editions the KLF in India, KLF Kathamndu this year also has a hard-hitting theme for writers, poets and artists to ponder on. Central Theme of the Festival is “India & Nepal: Journey of Civilizations and Search for the Soul”. Key Note Speakers of the festival on the Central theme are noted writers Tulasi Diwasa, Ashok Vajpeyi, Kanak Mani Dixit. Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu will strengthen the cultural dialogue, religious as well as literary perspective and prolonged relations between Nepal and India said all the Key Note speakers in the Central Theme of the session.
The first international edition of the Kalinga Literary Festival has started in Lalitpur today. To promote art, culture, and literature, the two-day Kalinga Literary Festival has been initiated. The festival was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Dr. Jagman Gurung, Vice-Chancellor of Nepal Academy, amidst a grand ceremony at the Himalaya Hotel in Lalitpur.
The program’s special guests were India’s famous culturist and writer Ashok Vajpayee, senior journalist and critic Kanak Mani Dixit, famous poet Prof. Dr. Tulsi Diwas, and storyteller Maya Thakuri, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Nepal Prasanna Srivastava and CEO of LIC LP Das.
On the first day of the two-day program, 18 sessions were held simultaneously in two halls of Hotel Himalaya. Ranjana Niraula, director of Kalinga Literary Festival-Kathmandu, gave her welcome speech and thanked everyone who helped to organize the event successfully. Similarly, speaking about the program, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, the founder of Kalinga Literary Festival believed that the festival will help in the promotion and globalization of art, culture, and literature, in making Nepal-India literary historical relations and cultural relations between the two countries harmonious.
He believed that the journey of this festival, which was started for the first time in Nepal, would continue and help strengthen the harmonious relationship between Nepal and India. Social activist Jyotsana Saud, storyteller Maya Thakuri, senior journalist and writer Kanak Mani Dixit, poet Tulsi Diwas, Indian poet Ashok Vajpayee, Chief Guest Jagman Gurung and CEO of LIC Nepal LP Das gave brief speeches at the event. The speakers expressed their best wishes for the successful completion of the program. They expressed the view that this festival will further strengthen the religious, cultural, literary, and geographical relations between Nepal and India. They also said that it will help to bond the art and literature of both countries.
In the program, it was also informed that Kalinga-Kathmandu Yashasvi Sahitya Samman will be awarded this year. The first Kalinga-Kathmandu Yashasvi Sahitya Samman was awarded to Nepali writer, centenarian Satyamohan Joshi, and Indian writer Ashok Vajpayee. Also, author Mahesh Paudel’s book Facing a Little Volcano was launched.
Various topics were discussed in which the participants expressed their views and opinions. One of the highlights of the day was a panel discussion on the theme of the event,” India, and Nepal: A Journey of Civilization and a Search for the Soul”. Key speakers Tulsi Diwas, Ashok Vajpayee, and Kanakamani Dixit gave their views on various dimensions of Nepal-India relations.
Similarly, there was a discussion on “Poetry in Newari Language: Feeling of Time” in which the speakers expressed their views on Newari language and literature. Also, during the discussion session titled “India-Nepal Civilization Relations – The Way Forward”, views were exchanged on the civilization and future of Nepal and India. Poems were recited by various poets under the titles “History and Glory” and “Colors of Emotions”.
Lectures on “Verses from Everywhere and Nowhere”: Sudha Gopalakrishnan and “ Literary Migration and Perpetuation of Knowledge: Manuscripts of Nepal and Expansion of Ancient Indian Heritage in the Himalayas” by Dr Shanker Thapa were also presented.
Discussions were held titled “The previous story-present story”, “Time reflected in the face of the narrative”, “Emergence and expansion of Niatra literature”, “Inside the theater / outside the theater”, “Creative dimension of Maithili culture (Maithili)” and “Journey of a Civilization: From Kantipur to Kashi to Kalinga and Karnataka” where various speakers opined their views.
In the session of short stories, various storytellers narrated their stories, in the session of the first day of the festival, a conversation with Hindi lyricist Rajashekhar and a conversation between Piyush Mishra and Styanand Nirupam titled “Hamlet Kabhi Bombay Nahi Gaya” were also the main attractions of the day. The first-day program concluded with a conversation session between Malini Awasthi and Vyomesh Shukla.
Other important sessions in the inaugural days of the festival are like “India – Nepal civilizational Relationship – The way Forward”, “Journey of a Civilization: From Kantipur to Kashi to Kalinga and Karnataka”, “Women’s Writing: Challenges and Futures”, “Society, Literature and Cinema”. Two lecture session namely: “Verses from Everywhere and Nowhere”: Sudha Gopalakrishnan ; Literary Migration and Perpetuation of Knowledge: Manuscripts of Nepal and Expansion of Ancient Indian Heritage in the Himalayas by Dr Shanker Thapa. Interesting conversation sessions with Bollywood actor, Lyricist Piyush Mishra, Hindi Lyricist Raj Sekhar, Indian folk singer Malini Awasthi, former Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae, Ashok Vajpeyi and others. Poetry recitation session on Nepali, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Hindi, English languages.
Legendary writers from India like Ashok Vajpayee, Arun Kamal, Ranjit Rae , Anand Nelkanthan, OM Tanvi, Gagam Gill, Malini Awasthi, Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Ashok Maheswari (MD Rajkamal Prakashan), Satyanand Nirupam (Editorial Director, Rajkamal Prakashan Group), Noted Bollywood actor, Lyricist Piyush Mishra, Raj Sekhar, poet and theatre activist Vyomesh Shukla, Navita Srikant, Debasish Samantray and others joining the festival as speakers.
From Nepal Noted poet and folklore expert Tulasi Diwasa, Acclaimed writer, Journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, noted artist Ragini Upadhyay, Maya Thakuri, Dr. Jagman Gurung, Dinesh Adhikari,Prof. Gopal Bhandari, Basanta Chaudhary, Prof. Basudev Tripathi, Dhirendra Premarashi, Nayan Raje Pandey, Ashes Malla, Manju Kanchuli Tiwari, Nayan Raje Pandey, Dr. Gyanu Pandey, Tirtha Shrestha Dr. Pushparaj Rajkarnikar, Narad Bagrachary, Pratisara Sayami, Sneh Sayami, Dr. Bhavna Pokhrel, Santosh Kumar Pokhrel, Subas Singh Parajuli, Susanth Thapa, Manisha Koirala, Rajendra Ojha, Bhojkumar Dhamala, Bhuvan Thaplia, Ujala Kapali, Kavita Singhal, Trina Chakraborty, Asmita Manandhar, Mahesh Paudel, Suman Pokhrel, Susanth Kumar VK, Bhishma Upreti, Akanksha Upreti, Anup Baral, Shishir Upreti, Raj Shah, Maya Thakuri, Amar Neupane, Narayan Dhakal, Ganesh Lath, Bimal Acharya, Dr. Rajani Dhakal, Gyanu Adhikari, Abhay Shrestha, Dr. Geeta Tripathi , Prem Pradhan, Rajkumar Bania, Ranjana Niraula, Momila Joshi, Yubaraje Nayaghare, Satyanarayan Shah, Painter S.C. Suman, Musician Gurudev Kamat, Ramesh Ranjan, Vibha Jha, Dhirendra Premarshi ,Shanti Priyabandana, Anita Neupane, Rabat, Shakuntala Joshi, Deep Darpan, Aseem Sagar, Vishwa Sigdel, Rupesh Shrestha, Ramgopal Asutosh, Samina Khanal, Jotare Dhaiwa, Naveen Lochan Magar, Swapnil Smriti, Ghanendra Ojha, Suman Ghimire, Virat Kiranti, Sushma Anshu, Manjila Anil, Bhawani Khatiwada, Dr. Neeraj Bhattarai, Rima K.C., Chabi Anitya, Prajwal Adhikari, Baburam Shrestha, Navin Abhilashi, Shravan Mukarung, Ramesh Kshitij, Seema Abhash, Sandhya Pahadi, Geeta Karki, Jyoti Jangal, Momila, Savita Gautam Dahal, Bhupin, Tank Upreti, Chhabiraman Silwal, Renuka Solu, Prollas Sindhuliyya, Mani Lohani, Thakur Belbase, Tribhuvan Chandra Wagle, Bhojraj Neupane, Baba Basnet, Munraj Sherma, Fulman Bal, Gopal Ashok, Dr. Gopal Thakur, Veena Singha, Anand Gupta, Ritesh Tripathi , Tulasi Diwasa, Durgalal Shrestha, Gopal Parajuli, Dinesh Adhikari, Biplav Prateek, Vishwavimohan Shrestha, Tirtha Shrestha, Bishnu Vibhu Ghimire, Sneh Sayami, Vidhan Acharya, Venju Sharma, Lakshmi Mali, Shailendra Sakar, Ashesh Malla, Kunta Sharma, Viyogi Budhathoki, Rajendra Shalabh , Vivash Pokharel, Vasant Chaudhary, Raman Ghimire, Radheshyam Lekali, Krishna Prasai, Pawan Alok, Govind Giri Prerna, Matrika Pokhrel, Rishav dev Ghimire, Nayanraj Pandey, Ramlal Joshi, Rajan Mukarung, Santosh Shrestha,Bibek Ojha, Dr. Gyanu Pandey , Kumari Lama, Prof. Dr. Sabitri Kashpati, Saguna Shah , Dr. Shantimaya Giri, Bhishma Uprathy, Yuvraj Nayaghare, Jai Changchha, Prabha Baral, Sudesh Satyal, Kashiram Bajgain, Preetika Khatri, Vikramapavan Pariyar, Devaki Abhilashi, Rasik Raj, Anshu Khanal, VP Astu, Sushmita Baniyan, Amrit-Kaski, Hemant Shishir, Kushal Neupane, Amrita Smriti, Ishwar Thokar, Sundar Shirish, Roshan Pariyar, Rajendra Bhatt, Yug Sarvanam, Sangeet Magar, Janak Karki-Palpa, Sushila Hasina, Umesh Awasthi, Suraj Rana, Jeevan Khatri, Jiten Limbu, Dr. Rajni Dhakal, Gyanu Adhikari, Abhay Shrestha, Dr. Geeta Tripathi, Dhiren Anupam, Mahendra Chand Mahagaon, Krishna Virhi, Asha Sanki Balayar, Geeta Smriti Kathayat, Suman Samarika, Sangeeta Thapa, Muna Bohra, Ishwar Dahal, Khagendra Atal, Rahasya Vikram Chimaria, Vidyanirdosh Pahadi, Laxman Sangam, Umesh Athi, Dipendra K Khanal, Sujit Bidari, Suvarna Thapa, Sampada Mallaa Hem Prabhas and other writers are joining the festival as speakers in this two days extravanza.
Yashaswi Prangya Pratisthan, Himalayan Diary Pvt Ltd, Rastrika Sahitya Pratisthan, Nepal – Kalinga Literary Festival join hand for KLF Kathmandu Edition to celebrate the spirit of Lord Shiva and Gautama Buddha in the context of Nepal-India literary ties. The festival will focus on the glorious traditions of Nepal.
“Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu will showcase literature, music, dance, poetry and other art forms. It will be a life time experience for the lovers of literature, Music, Dance, art, poetry . The Festival will celebrate the long-standing ties between Nepal and India in the context of the emerging global cultures,” said KLF Founder and Director, Rashmi Ranjan Parida.
“We plan to celebrate great Literary, Spiritual, Cultural Traditions of Nepal, among other aspects, theme of Shiv and Buddha Tatwa and its contribution to South Asia and global literary movements and traditions. The festival will have panel discussions on literature, Art, Culture, History, and showcase artistic traditions from Nepal and India, in addition to the world of Nepalese and Indian art and music,” said Ranjana Niraula, KLF-Kathmandu, Director, Curator and Co-Ordinator.
Kalinga Literary Festival is a dignified institution in India which has been honouring and promoting distinguished personalities from different regions of India. Along with Members of both the institutions are aiming to organise a multidimensional program in future. Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited (LIC Nepal) is the title sponsor of the Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu (KLF -Kathmandu) and Surya Nepal is also part of the Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu initiative.
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