Fifth day of Literature Festival of Sahitya Akademi Discussion on Ram Katha in popular consciousness

New Delhi: This was the fifth day of the world's biggest literature festival being organized by Sahitya Akademi. Discussions were organized on many important topics in the programs divided into 35 sessions in which renowned writers and scholars participated. Two sessions were organized on the topic of Ramkatha in popular consciousness. The first session was presided over by Prof. Kumud Sharma, Vice President, Sahitya Akademi, and Anand Neelakantan, Hiroyuki Sato, Indushekhar Tatpurush and Yugal Joshi took part and shared their views. Dr. K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, delivered the welcome address. While giving the presidential address, Kumud Sharma said that Ram is an essential part of existence and our ideals. She further said that Ram is a man of emotion for us and not a man of history. Ram is a part of our inner psyche. Neelakantan explained other regional and folk versions of the Ramayana. He said that the changes in different versions of Ramkatha were due to the evolution of our social system, which has been used to adjust with the contemporary era. Japanese translator of Indian epics and mythological literature, Hiroyuki Sato, in other South Asian countries, talked about the variations. He said that Ramayana is a symbol of values and lifestyle. Indushekhar Tatpurush said that the eternal consciousness of Ram has been repeated from time to time in different cultures. Ram's popularity is due to his faith in religion. Yugal Joshi discussed the reasons for the popularity of Ramayana among the public. He also shed light on various stories prevalent regarding the origin of Ramayana. He also talked about the influence of Ramayana on the Bhakti literature of the medieval era. The session on “Cultural Heritage of India” was chaired by S.L. Bhayrappa. He said that Mahabharata is the richest literary dictionary of cultural values. He mentioned some of the great Indian novels and their philosophical underpinnings. Nand Kishore Acharya explained about the source of the Indian value system. He also spoke on Indian philosophy and concepts of existence, economy and many more. Other sessions held today included Biographies in Indian Literature, Media and Literature, Voices of the Oppressed: Dalit Literature, Science Fiction in Indian Languages. There were also symposiums and discussions on subjects like literature and cultural heritage of India, Indian classics and world literature, religious and philosophical literature of India, rapidly emerging narrative literature in Indian languages etc. Important writers who participated in these programmes were - Mridula Garg, Purushottam Agarwal, Sheen Kaaf Nizam, Shriram Parihar, Jerry Pinto, Abdul Bismillah, Kapil Tiwari, Mahendra Kumar Mishra, Anant Vijay, Malashri Lal, Sharankumar Limbale and Sheoraj Singh Bechain, etc. The main attraction tomorrow will be the children-centric programme 'Aao Kahani Bune' in which painting, literary quiz and elocution competitions will be organized for children.