Mangaluru : Alva’s Education Foundation will organise Alva’s Nudisiri, the annual literary and cultural festival on November 26, 27, 28 and 29 in Moodbidri.

Addressing media persons in the city on Monday, Alva’s Education Foundation Chairman Dr M Mohan Alva said the inaugural programme will be held at Vanajakshi K Sripathi Bhat Stage at Vivekananda Nagar, Puttige, at 6 pm on November 26.

Veteran writer Dr Veena Shanteshwara of Dharwad will inaugurate the festival. A 150-foot tall and 40-foot wide stage will be specially designed for the occasion to accommodate 500 guests.

A total of 700 achievers from various fields have been specially invited. Seating arrangements have been made for 35,000 audience. Prior to the inaugural session, a cultural procession will be taken out at 5.30 pm. About 55 cultural troupes with 1,500 artistes will take part in the procession, he added.

The literary meets will be held between 8 am and 6 pm at Ratnakaravarni Stage on November 27, 28 and 29. The Nudisiri festival will be presided over by veteran researcher and scholar Dr T V Venkatachala Shastry. The representatives for Nudisiri can register by paying Rs 100. The Alva’s Nudisiri Stage is named after poet and writer Kayyara Kinhanna Rai.

The theme of this year’s Nudisir is ‘Karnataka – Hosathanada Hudukata’ (Karnataka: Search for newness).

Five major sessions on various subjects will be held during Nudisiri. Dr N S Taranath, Dr Krishnamurthy Hanur, Dr G B Harish, Vasudhendra, Prof Ravindra Reshme, N A M Ismail, Dr Niranjanaradhya V C, Vikasa Soppina Naragunda, Dr K C Basavaraj and Dinesh Holla will take part in these sessions.

Dr B Nityananda Shetty, Dr H L Manjunath, Dr Gayatri Navada, Kum Veerabhadrappa, Dr Basavaraja Kalgudi, Nagesh Negade, Vartur Narayana Reddy and Manorama B M will deliver special lectures in the annual literary event.

In ‘Kavi Samaya-Kavi Namana’, poets Dr Chintamani Kodlakere, Vijayalakshmi Shanubhag, Dr Vasant Kumar Perla, Sukanya Kalasa, T Yellappa, Dr Vijayashree Sabarada, Dr Katyayani Kunjibettu, Arundhati Ramesh, Dr Sumatheendra Nadig and Srinivasa Jokatte will participate. A programme will be held in memory of late Kayyara Kinhanna Rai and Dr M M Kalburgi will also be organised as part of the Nudisiri.

Cultural programmes
Dr Alva said the cultural programmes will be held at Ratnakaravarni Stage, K V Subbanna Open Air Theatre, Jayalakshmi Alva Stage, B V Karanth Stage, Vanajakshi K Sripathi Bhat Stage, K N Tailor Stage, Master Vittal Shetty Stage and Ku Shi Haridas Bhat Stage parallelly.

He said the valedictory programme will be held at 3.35 pm on November 29. On the occasion, Dr Bannanje Govindacharya (litterateur and religious discourse), Dr Sumatheendra Nadig (literature), S V Rajendra Babu (film), R K Padmanabha (classical music), Dr B N Sumithra Bai (literature), Ishwara Daithota (media), Leelavathi Baipadithaya (Yakshagana), Varthuru Narayana Reddy (agriculture), Shilpi Honnappachar (sculpture) and Syed Salavuddin Pasha (cultural service) will be honoured with Alva’s Nudisiri Award.