Daijiworld Media Network - Moodbidri

Moodbidri, Aug 11: The district-level ‘Konkani Sambhram’ conference, organised jointly by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy and Rang Tarang, Moodbidri, was held with grandeur at the Gantalkatte Church premises on August 9.

Senior Konkani writer Dolfy F Lobo presided over the conference and lauded the initiatives of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy in promoting Konkani language, literature and culture.

Welcoming the gathering, academy president Joachim Stany Alvares spoke about the unique character of the Konkani language and its rich script tradition. He noted that Konkani is written in Kannada, Roman, Perso-Arabic, Devanagari and Malayalam scripts, besides Gujarati in certain regions.

“Konkani is like a beautiful flower garden,” he said, while presenting an overview of the academy's activities and achievements.

Chief guest Guru Baliga addressed the gathering and extended his best wishes to the organisers. Gantalkatte Church parish priest Fr Roque D'Sa and Rang Tarang, Moodbidri leader Lloyd Rego were also present.

The event also marked the conclusion of the 15-day ‘Rang Paryatan’, a painting tour along the Konkani coast that commenced on July 25. Six participating artists were felicitated during the programme.

Various competitions were conducted as part of the celebrations, with prizes distributed to the winners.

A seminar on ‘Konkani – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’ was held following the formal programme. Titus Noronha, Tara Lavina Mascarenhas and Ranson Stephen Coutinho participated in the discussion and shared their views on the past, present and future of the Konkani language.

The programme concluded with a staging of the Konkani play ‘Jugari’, presented by Astitva, Mangaluru.

Winston Joel Sequeira compered the programme, while programme coordinator Praveen Aranha proposed the vote of thanks. Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy member Ronald Crasta was also present.