Chennai, Mar 7 (IANS): The 45th Chennai book fair held at the YMCA grounds, Nandanam, Chennai from February 16 has concluded. According to the organisers, Book Sellers and Publishers Association (BSAPA), around 15 lakh people participated in the fair.

The organisers said that books worth Rs 12 crore were sold during the fair held for 19 days in Chennai.

The book fair, which was held after a gap of two years, following the Covid 19 pandemic witnessed the participation of a large number of students and youngsters, according to the organisers.

President of BSAPA, S. Vairavan while speaking to IANS said, "This year was marked with the presence of a large number of youngsters in the fair, including school children and we are happy that the young generation is showing interest in books. Books on skill development, spirituality, English novels, and language oriented books and carrier-related books were sold like hotcakes."

The BSAPA president also said that several stalls were arranged in the book fair which depicted the Keeladi photo gallery, old pottery artifacts, Government of Tamil Nadu's Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme, and many other stalls. He said that these stalls were also a major attraction to the people who reached the fair.

Sculptures of Lord Budha, C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, APJ Abdul Kalam, Periyar, E.V. Ramaswamy and Tiruvallur were a major attraction. These sculptures were sold in large numbers.

The sculptor, Arun Titan told IANS, "I used to exhibit my sculptures during the previous Chennai book fairs also but this time around the sale was roaring. Thiruvallur and Periyar were the major hits."