Agartala, Feb 15 (IANS): Bibliomania gripped the people of Tripura as the 37th edition of the Agartala Book Fair kicked off on Friday.

Tripura Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki inaugurated the 12-day book fair in the presence of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, Agartala Municipal Corporation Mayor Prafulla Jit Sinha and other dignitaries.

The Chief Minister in his brief speech said the state government was keen to organise book fairs at the district, sub-divisional and block levels.

"Share a good book among your friends and family members to spread the knowledge and motivate excellence in all spheres of the society," Deb said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government had introduced three awards -- Atal Bihari Vajpayee Life-Term Achievements in combined feats, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Integration Award for outstanding contribution in the field of social service and the Kalikinkar Debbarma Award for excellent performance in classical music.

Book Fair Committee Vice-Chairman Ashish Kumar Saha said these three new awards, along with many other awards introduced by the previous Left Front government, would be handed out during the book fair.

Book sellers and publishers from Bangladesh, Kolkata, New Delhi, Guwahati, besides Tripura are taking part in this year's book fair with the theme "Tripura with Heritage and Glory".

Over 500 poets coming from more than 10 linguistic backgrounds will recite their poems at the book fair, the second largest in eastern India after the one held in Kolkata.

The cultural functions at the inaugural ceremony were postponed in memory of the slain CRPF troopers, killed in the suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.