Kalinga Literary Festival

Why is in news? Kathmandu-Kalinga Literary Festival concluds in Lalitpur, Nepal

The three day long Kathmandu-Kalinga Literary Festival successfully came to an end in Lalitpur, Nepal.

Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud of Nepal had inaugurated the festival.

This event fulfilled its role in the exchange of culture in the South Asia promoting literary and cultural activities.

Litterateur from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka exhibited in the Festival.

The festival will focus on the glorious traditions of Nepal and India.

Kalinga Literary Festival Kathmandu will showcase literature, music, dance, poetry and other art forms.

It will be a lifetime experience for the lovers of Music, Dance, art, poetry and literature.

Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) Kathmandu will be held on September 01, 02, 03, 2023 at Kathmandu.

Central theme of the festival is Shakti, Bhakti, Civilzational connection: Nepal As centre of Global Thought

Shakti and Bhakti are two concepts that have played a significant role in connecting Nepal and India’s civilization over the centuries.

Shakti is the divine feminine energy that is worshipped in Hinduism and other Indian religions. Bhakti, on the other hand, is the devotional practice of worshipping a personal god or goddess.

Kalinga:

Kalinga is a historical region of India.

It is generally defined as the eastern coastal region between the Mahanadi and the Godavari rivers, although its boundaries have fluctuated with the territory of its rulers.

The core territory of Kalinga now encompasses central and southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh.

At its widest extent, the Kalinga region also included parts of present-day Chhattisgarh, extending up to Amarkantak in the west.

The Kalingas have been mentioned as a major tribe in the legendary text Mahabharata.

In the 3rd century BCE, the region came under Mauryan control as a result of the Kalinga War.

It was subsequently ruled by several regional dynasties whose rulers bore the title Kalingadhipati ("Lord of Kalinga"); these dynasties included Mahameghavahana, Vasishtha, Mathara, Pitrbhakta, Shailodbhava, Somavamshi, and Eastern Ganga.

The medieval era rulers to rule over the Kalinga region were the Suryavamsa Gajapatis, Bhoi dynasty, Paralakhemundi Gangas and the zamindaris of Ganjam and Vizagapatam.

The Hathigumpha inscription suggests that a king named Nandaraja had excavated an aqueduct there in the past. Assuming that Nandaraja refers to a king of the Nanda dynasty, it appears that the Kalinga region was annexed by the Nandas at some point.