Ahmedabad will host a week-long cultural festival, “Vishwa Sanskriti Parv”, from 30 November as the Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust marks its foundation day, organisers announced.
The festival will run until 6 December and is expected to bring together prominent personalities from literature, cinema, theatre and music. The event aims to encourage cultural exchange and promote intellectual dialogue.
Trustee of the Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust, Kumarpal Desai, said the festival will feature a wide range of activities, including panel discussions, lectures, artistic performances, award ceremonies and theatre productions.
Founded on 2 December 1985 under the guidance of noted scholar Dhirubhai Thakar, the Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust was established to create a comprehensive encyclopaedia in the Gujarati language. The first volume of the Gujarati Encyclopaedia was published in 1989.
According to the Trust, its online encyclopaedia now includes more than 24,000 articles across 170 subjects in Gujarati and attracts around 275,000 users from across the world every month.
The festival will open on Sunday with a conversation between veteran actor Amol Palekar and writer Sandhya Gokhale Palekar on Palekar’s book, Viewfinder: A Memoir.
On 1 December, singers Amar Bhatt and Hinali Vyas Naik, along with other artists, will present a musical programme titled “Surila Sambharan”.
A special lecture on 2 December, the Trust’s foundation day, will be delivered by renowned Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi. The lecture is titled “Hamara Samay, Hamara Sahitya” (Our Times, Our Literature).
On 3 December, acclaimed screenwriter and filmmaker Abhijat Joshi, known for films such as Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots and PK, will speak about creativity and developing meaningful cinematic ideas.
The following day, Arun Dave, Chancellor of Lokbharti University in Sanosara, will be honoured with the Chinubhai R Shah Jeevanshilpi Award. Rajendra Khimani and Niranjana Kalarthi will also address the audience.
A special documentary session on 5 December will feature Pune-based filmmaker Makarand Waikar, who will present My Radio, My Life, an award-winning documentary highlighting the cultural legacy of radio in the pre-digital era.
The festival will conclude on 6 December with a stage performance of the play Anahata, based on a novel by Kumarpal Desai.
Organisers said the festival seeks to unite diverse voices from different cultural fields and reaffirm the Trust’s commitment to preserving and promoting Gujarati literature and culture.