CH NEWS, BAGALKOT The annual Prasanna Venkata Dasara Aradhana Mahotsav witnessed a significant cultural milestone with the formal inauguration of the Shri Prasanna Venkata Dasara Memorial Hall, the All Karnataka Haridasa Literature Study and Research Centre, and an accompanying public library in Bagalkot.
His Holiness Sri 1008 Sri Raghuvijayathirtha Sripadam dedicated the newly erected memorial complex to the public. The inaugural ceremony was presided over by acclaimed Kalaburagi scholar Dr. Swamirao Kulkarni. Built under the aegis of the Shri Prasanna Venkata Dasa Cultural and Charitable Trust by the saint-poet’s descendants, Dr. Subhash Kakhandaki and Dr. Rekha Kakhandaki, alongside family patrons and donors, the memorial was hailed by senior researcher Dr. Krishna Kolhar Kulkarni as an exemplary private-sector initiative dedicated to preserving devotional literature. To broaden linguistic access to the Haridasa tradition, multiple new publications were unveiled. These included Haridasara Sahitya Sinchana Part 9, edited by Dr. Subhash and Dr. Rekha Kakhandaki; a Telugu translation of Narayana Panjara by M. Anantharamu of Hyderabad; and a Hindi edition of Sri Prasannavenkata Dasara Kriti-Lakshmideviya Aprakatita Stuthiratnagal by Dr. N.G. Vijayalakshmi. The trust also conferred honors on prominent literary contributors. Dr. N.G. Vijayalakshmi received the prestigious Shri Prasanna Venkata Dasa Sahitya Ratna award, while Dr. Dhulkheda Narayanacharya was presented with the Prasannavenkata Vyasa-Dasa Award. Dignitaries in attendance included Dr. Na. Geetacharya of the Dasa Sahitya Parishad, writer Dr. Kabbinale Vasantha Bharadwaja, and Pt. Bindumadhav Nagasampige. The three-day festival featured the 9th Haridasa Sammelan, hosting six dedicated academic sessions where roughly twenty scholars presented research papers on Prasanna Venkata Dasa’s philosophy, social reformist outlook, and modern relevance, establishing the new center as an enduring hub for cultural research.
