Celebrating the Living Traditions of Sanskrit and Kannada Poetry
The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems at Chanakya University brought together some of India’s finest poetic voices on 1st March 2026 at the auditorium of National College Basavanagudi, Bengaluru, for a national-level poets’ assembly that was as much a celebration of civilizational continuity as it was a prize distribution ceremony.
The event marked the culmination of a poetry competition launched in August 2025, inviting original unpublished compositions in Sanskrit and Kannada on themes rooted in Bharat’s civilizational values. The response was heartening, around 40 poems were received, 16 in Sanskrit and 23 in Kannada. To ensure impartial evaluation, poets’ names were replaced with codes before submissions were sent to a distinguished jury led by Padmashree Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh, alongside Dr. Shashikiran B.N., Dr. Mahesh Bhatt, and Dr. Shankar Rajaraman.
The assembly began at 10.30 am with a welcome address by Dr. Ramakrishna Pejathaya, Director of the Centre for IKS, followed by an opening address by Dr. Sandeep Nair, Dean, School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The forenoon session featured a Sanskrit Kavi-gosthi hosting poets from Delhi, Mumbai, Tirupati, and Bengaluru, with competition winners also presenting their compositions. Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh presided, offering expert commentary and closing with his own original Sanskrit verses, a spontaneous act of creative generosity that left the gathering visibly moved and reminded all present that the Sanskrit poetic tradition is not a relic of the past but a living, breathing art form.
The afternoon Kannada poets’ assembly was equally rich, drawing eminent voices including Ganesh Koppalatota, Manjunatha Kollegala, Kanchana Karki, and Shakuntala Moleyar, among others. Their recitations wove together lyrical beauty and cultural depth, affirming Kannada’s unbroken literary vitality across centuries. The assembly also served as a rare intergenerational gathering, seasoned poets and young voices sharing the same stage, passing the flame of classical expression to a new generation of composers and listeners.
The closing ceremony, graced by Sri. M.P. Kumar, Founder Pro-Chancellor of Chanakya University, saw winners and participants felicitated with specially designed mementos bearing a congratulatory Sanskrit verse, composed by Shatavadhani himself, inscribed in both Devanagari and Kannada script. The event concluded with a warm felicitation of Dr. R. Ganesh on his recent conferral of the Padmashree, honouring a scholar whose life’s work embodies precisely the tradition this assembly sought to celebrate.
