Kanakadasa’s contributions hailed

DHARWAD: Speakers hailed the contribution of Kanakadasa in creating awareness among people through his poems at a programme organized by the district administration to celebrate the saint-poet's birth anniversary at Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha here on Monday.

District in-charge minister Vinay Kulkarni, who inaugurated the programme, said Kanakadasa did not represent a particular community, but the entire society. Professor Y M Yakolli talked about the struggle against discrimination launched by Kanakadasa through literature. He said Kanaka Jayanti should be celebrated in a more meaningful way. Hubballi-Dharwad (West) MLA Arvind Bellad presided over the programme.

ZP vice-president Shivanand Karigar, Yallamma Naikar, deputy commissioner S B Bommanahalli, assistant commissioner Mahesh Karjagi and police commissioner M N Nagaraj were also present.

A procession of Kanakadasa's portrait was taken out as part of the celebration. Head of Jagadguru Shri Revanasiddheshwar Mutt of Mansur, Basavaraj Devaru inaugurated a weeklong programme to propagate Kanakadasa's literary works on the mutt premises.