Participants singing Vachanas fashioned on the tunes set by late C. Aswath during the Vachanotsava organised by KLE Society in Belagavi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Over a thousand students, teachers and others sang 35 Vachanas of Basavanna during the Vachanotsava organised by KLE Society in Belagavi on Tuesday.The performance on the premises of KAHER University lasted nearly 75 minutes.The Vachanotsava was organized by KAHER in collaboration with the Kannada wing of the institution and the KLE Music College.The singers included five-year-old children and 80-year-old men and women. Students from KAHER medical, dental, homeopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nursing, allied health science, primary, secondary, PU and graduate institutions, doctors, faculty members, teachers and staff were part of the event.It may be noted that they made preparations for months for this performance.The singers, dressed in pure white clothes and wearing the Vachana Shalya with a portrait of Basavanna around their necks, sang in a disciplined and rhythmic manner on the steps of the deemed university campus.Earlier, such an event was organised in Shivamogga. This is the first time that it was organised in Belagavi.The Vachanas were fashioned on the tunes set by late C. Ashwath. The listeners expressed their appreciation for the continuous efforts of the teachers of the Music College for the last three months to prepare and organize the event.Chancellor Prabhakar Kore was the chief guest. He said that he was impressed by the performance.The event is aimed at introducing the younger generation to the teachings of Jagajyoti Basaveshwara and promote the values of equality, dignity of labour, compassion and social justice enshrined in Vachana literature, he said. He promised to organize a large-scale Vachana festival every year.“In the 12th Century, Basavanna raised his voice against caste, colour and class discrimination through the world’s first parliament Anubhav Mantapa and saw everyone as equal. At that time, he provided equal opportunities to women as well as men. He not only wrote Vachanas in a way that the common people could understand but also inspired others to do so. Vachanas are eternally relevant,” he said.Basava Marulasiddha Swami of Sri Basavatatva Peetha hoped that the light of Vachanas will help humanity that is surrounded by the darkness of war and violence.“We are seeing the disappearance of human values all around us. Let us hope and pray that the light of Basavanna and other Sharanas helps ourselves again,” he said.“All of us should realise that saints like Basavanna belong to the world and not to any particular community. We should not attempt to appropriate any great saint to any group and allow the whole world to access them,” the seer said.H.B. Rajashekar, JNMC Principal Rajesh Pawar, V.M. Pattassetty, V.D. Patil, Avinash Kavi and others were present. Published - June 10, 2026 07:00 pm IST
