ENS

Udupi, Nov 20: The arrangements for the 74th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana to be held here from December 12-17, have begun in a full swing with the completion of a make-shift hall to accommodate 20,000 people at a time.

The total expenditure of the Sammelana is expected to cross Rs 2.30 crore, out of which Rs 35 lakh would be spent on temporary physical structures.

The tender for the construction of the venue has been allotted to Thibba Devi Tent House, Bangalore. The main auditorium has been named after Jnana Peetha Awardee late Kota Shivarama Karanth.

The welcome arch will be named after Dr T M A Pai and the main dais will be named after noted poet M Gopalakrishna Adiga. A parallel auditorium is being constructed at the Dr T M A Pai College of Education, which will be named after noted poet of the region, late Muddana.

The dais will be named after Madhava Pai and the welcome arch after late Prof K S Haridas Bhat.

As many as 600 stalls, both commercial and of literary books, will be constructed at the Sammelana venue and they will be named after the empires which ruled the Kannada speaking regions- Hoysala, Chalukya, Alupa, Kadamba etc.

Two exhibition halls named after B P Bayiri and G S Shenoy will accommodate the display of paintings, photographs and other materials depicting Kannada and culture of the land. The welcome arch of the exhibition halls will be named after noted artist late K K Hebbar.

Seven more welcome archs leading towards the Sammelan venue will also be named after Haji Abdul Saheb, K S N Adiga, Mulky Sundaram Shetty, Ammembala Subraya Pai, T A Pai, Malpe Madhwaraj and Rocky Fernandies.