Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (NJC)
Mangaluru , May 15: Vishwa Konkani Kendra, Shaktinagar, will host the two-day Vishwa Konkani Samaroh 2026 on May 17 and 18, bringing together writers, scholars, artists and language enthusiasts from Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala to celebrate Konkani language, literature and culture.
The inaugural ceremony on May 17 will be organised under the leadership of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Educationist and patron of art and culture Sulakshana Sawant will inaugurate the event. Guests will be welcomed with Kudubi folk dance and traditional instrumental music.
CA Nandagopal Shenoy, president of the centre, will deliver the welcome address. Melvyn Rodrigues will preside over the inaugural function, while H M Pernal and Dr Kiran Budkule will also take part.
As part of the literary festival, several seminars and panel discussions will be held over both days. Sessions on May 17 will focus on balanced development in Konkani literary genres, literary criticism, and the birth centenary remembrance of noted Konkani poet P G Kamath. Eminent scholars, writers and academicians from Goa and Karnataka will participate in the discussions.
The evening cultural programmes on the first day will feature performances by Lakshminarasimha Kalamandali, which will stage the dance drama Narasimha Avatara, a comedy presentation by Sadhana Balaga, and a children’s theatre production Veeranari Ahilyabai Holkar by Ankita Kamat’s troupe from Mangaluru.
The second day, May 18, will include folk sessions, nano-story presentations, a panel discussion on Yakshagana and the Konkani community, and folk song recitals by representatives of different Konkani-speaking communities. A special session on young Konkani writers will also be organised in association with Sahitya Akademi and Kavita Trust.
The valedictory programme will be held on May 18 evening. K Aravind Kamath will attend as chief guest. Senior advocate K Jagadish Kamath will speak on opportunities available to linguistic minorities under the Indian Constitution.
Organisers said that mother-tongue enthusiasts and literature lovers from Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala are expected to participate in large numbers. The event is being organised under the guidance of chairman Dr P Dayanand Pai and president CA Nandagopal Shenoy, along with trustees and office-bearers of the centre.