Over a thousand sing Vachanas in Belagavi

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Participants singing Vachanas fashioned on the tunes set by late C. Aswath during the Vachanotsava organised by KLE Society in Belagavi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Over a thousand students, teachers and others sang 35 Vachanas of Basavanna during the Vachanotsava organised by KLE Society in Belagavi on Tuesday.

The performance on the premises of KAHER University lasted nearly 75 minutes.

The Vachanotsava was organized by KAHER in collaboration with the Kannada wing of the institution and the KLE Music College.

The singers included five-year-old children and 80-year-old men and women. Students from KAHER medical, dental, homeopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nursing, allied health science, primary, secondary, PU and graduate institutions, doctors, faculty members, teachers and staff were part of the event.

It may be noted that they made preparations for months for this performance.

The singers, dressed in pure white clothes and wearing the Vachana Shalya with a portrait of Basavanna around their necks, sang in a disciplined and rhythmic manner on the steps of the deemed university campus.

Earlier, such an event was organised in Shivamogga. This is the first time that it was organised in Belagavi.

The Vachanas were fashioned on the tunes set by late C. Ashwath. The listeners expressed their appreciation for the continuous efforts of the teachers of the Music College for the last three months to prepare and organize the event.

Chancellor Prabhakar Kore was the chief guest. He said that he was impressed by the performance.

The event is aimed at introducing the younger generation to the teachings of Jagajyoti Basaveshwara and promote the values of equality, dignity of labour, compassion and social justice enshrined in Vachana literature, he said. He promised to organize a large-scale Vachana festival every year.

“In the 12th Century, Basavanna raised his voice against caste, colour and class discrimination through the world’s first parliament Anubhav Mant