Thiruvananthapuram to host cultural events as part of Saraswathi Samman presentation

Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo will present award to Prabha Varma at Tagore Theatre at 5.30 p.m. on October 3

The capital city will host cultural events for three days as part of the presentation of the prestigious Saraswati Samman literary award for 2023 to Malayalam poet Prabha Varma.

Writer Damodar Mauzo, Jnanpith awardee, will present the award to Mr. Varma at a function to be held at Tagore Theatre at 5.30 p.m. on October 3. Singer K.J. Yesudas will inaugurate the event. The award ceremony will be followed by cultural programmes in which singers Unni Menon, Sudeep Kumar, Rajalekshmi, Nithya Mammen, Aparna Rajeev and Kallara Gopan; and dancers Sithara Balakrishnan and Ashwathy will perform.

The Kerala Media Academy will be organising a photo exhibition titled ‘Drishya Prabha’ on October 1 and 2 at the Lalitha Kala Academy art gallery. The exhibition will showcase moments from the lives of various literary figures, including Mr. Varma. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala will inaugurate an event ahead of the exhibition, which will have talks related to literary journalism.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby will felicitate Mr. Varma at a function to be held at the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Higher Education Minister R. Bindu will inaugurate a seminar titled ‘Kavyaprabha’ on the poetic works of Mr. Varma. Poets and literary critics will take part in the seminar. Tamil writer Maalan Narayanan and Kannada writer Manu Baligar will take part in another event to be held in the evening.

Mr. Varma, currently Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s media secretary, has brought the award back to Kerala after a 12-year hiatus. The jury had selected his work, Roudra Sathwikam for the award.

Published - September 30, 2024 07:44 pm IST