Mangaluru: District in-charge Minister Ramanath Rai has promised to name a Circle in Dakshina Kannada district after Kanakadasa at the earliest. Speaking at the 530th Kanaka Jayanti programme here on Monday, the minister said that a site will also be allotted to the Kuruba Sangha as sought by it.

Stating that saint poet Kanakadasa not only initiated the process of social philosophy by spreading the message of equality, Rai said that he has made a remarkable contribution to Kannada literature through “Dasara padagalu.”

He said that the state government was committed to ensuring social justice to backward classes. The government has initiated several welfare programmes for the welfare of the backward classes. The devotion of the saint Kanakadasa was so powerful that the idol of Lord Krishna in the sanctum sanctorum of Udupi Sri Krishna Temple turned to give ‘darshan’ to him (Kanakadasa), he said.

Delivering a lecture, writer Mahesh Chatnalli said that people pay tribute to Kanakadasa in the true sense by inculcating the values preached by him. He explained philosophy in simple language that could be understood by all. “We can pay tributes to him in the true sense by practising equality.” Earlier, a rally with the portrait of Kanakadasa was taken out to the programme venue. Folk artists, women holding kalasha, members of Karavali Kurubara Sangha participated in the procession. Prizes were distributed to meritorious students from the community on the occasion.

The district administration, Zilla Panchayat, Kannada and Culture department and Karavali Kurubara Sangha had jointly organised the programme.