The Thunchan Festival, one of the biggest literary events in the State, began at Thunchanparamba, Tirur, on Thursday.
Inaugurating the four-day festival, Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua said that humanistic affluence was much superior to being temporally rich. Having a lot of money cannot make someone superior, he said. But being rich in humanism can make people and society superior. Presiding over the function, Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair said that the country had two extra languages in Ramayana and Mahabharata.
“We see people trying to associate their locations with events and characters of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Thus we have 23 languages,” he said.
Memorial lecture
Delivering the Thunchan memorial lecture, novelist C. Radhakrishnan said that although the world had become an electronic cocoon with facilities to reach anyone anywhere, man is increasingly becoming a living entity without any relatives. “Modern science and our tradition should go hand in hand,” he said.
M.V. Shreyams Kumar, former MLA, inaugurated a book festival. Poets Manambur Rajanbabu, Alankode Leelakrishnan and P.K. Gopi led an instant poetry competition for college students. K. Sreekumar led a literary quiz for college students.
Poets V. Madhusoodhanan Nair, Rafeek Ahamed, Anvar Ali, K.R. Toni, Lopa, V.T. Jayadevan, Kavita Balakrishnan, Shailan, Sushama Bindu, Antony Muniyara, Vijayaraja Mallika, M. Nandakumar, Shahina Rafeek, Ashokan Marayur, and Adil Madathil presented their poems. Actor Indrans inaugurated the Thunchan arts festival in the evening. Alankode Leelakrishnan welcomed the gathering. P.K. Gopi presided. K.X. Anto proposed a vote of thanks.
Narthaki Nataraj from Madurai staged a Bharatanatyam performance.