CMs of Karnataka and Kerala inaugurate Gilivindu

Mangalore Today News Network

Manjeshwar, Jan 19, 2017 : Kerala and Karnataka Chief ministers jointly inaugurated the ‘Gilivindu’ project commemorating Rashtrakavi Govinda Pai in Manjeshwar on January 19, Thursday.

 

 

 

Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Govinda Pai Memorial Centre while his Karnataka counterpart Sri. Siddaramaiah inaugurated the Bhavanika Auditorium inside Gilivindu .

Kerala state Culture minister A.K. Balan opened the renovated house of Mr Pai and his Karnataka counterpart Umashree  unveiled his bust. Karnataka minister B. Ramanath Rai opened the Yakshagana Auditorium and Kerala revenue minister E. Chandrasekharan, the Yakshagana Museum. Gilivindu consists of an amphitheatre for plays and Yakshagana, and spaces for art exhibitions, library, preservation of manuscripts, research, comparative studies, archives and guesthouse for scholars.

“The centre will show the life and works of Govinda Pai to the young generation. It will keep important works in both Malayalam and Kannada literature and will develop as a world-class heritage centre,” said K. Jeevan Babu, Kasaragod district collector.

The project has been funded jointly by the two governments, and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chipped in. Former Union petroleum minister M. Veerappa Moily, who is also a writer, took sincere efforts in realising the project.

The Kannada poet (1883–1963) was born in a Konkani Brahmin family at his maternal grandfather’s house in Manjeshwar. The Madras Government awarded him the first Rashtrakavi title in 1956. Gilivindu was his first collection of poems (1930).

Minister Ramanath Rai, Veerappa Moily, Moideen Bawa and others were present.