Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the golden jubilee celebrations of Basava Samithi in New Delhi.
To mark the birth anniversary of 12th century philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer Basavanna, Prime Minister Modi unveiled translated volumes of ‘Vachana’, penned social reformer Basavanna and others saints, in 23 Indian languages on the occasion.
The Prime Minister also released the digital version of the work at the first ever celebration of Basava Jayanthi at the national level in New Delhi.
Vachana is a prosaic form well known in the Kannada literature which propagates values of universal brotherhood.
This style of writing was used by Basavanna for spreading social awareness and brings equality in the society in the 12th century.
The 23 Vachana volumes, edited by esteemed literary scholar late M M Kalburgi and translated by more than 200 people, was commissioned by the Bengaluru based Basava Samithi at a cost of 2.5 crore rupees of which, the Karnataka government contributed 1 crore rupees.
The event also coincides with golden jubilee of Basava Samiti, set up by former Vice President B D Jatti in 1964 with an aim to spread Basavannas message across India.
