THE Vasundhara Samman and a seminar will be organised on Friday, August 14, at Mahatma Gandhi Kala Mandir, Civic Centre, Bhilai. The event is being jointly organised by Vasundhara and the Shri Chaturbhuj Memorial Foundation to mark the 50th death anniversary of late Devi Prasad Chaubey. Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Speaker Dr Raman Singh will attend the programme as the Chief guest, while Leader of the Opposition Dr Charandas Mahant will preside over the program. The event is being organised with the support of the Department of Culture, Government of Chhattisgarh. According to organising committee president Dr Arun Kumar Shrivastava and secretary Shweta Upadhyay, the 26th Vasundhara Award will be presented to Rajesh Ganodwale for his contribution to the field of cultural journalism spanning more than three decades.

 

Along with the award ceremony, the seminar will feature two lectures on the Indian knowledge tradition, with a focus on culture, history and journalism. Vyomesh Shukla, renowned author and general secretary of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Kashi, and Shashank Sharma, Chairman of the Chhattisgarh Sahitya Akademi and a noted journalist and thinker, will be the main speakers. A special edition of Vasundhara, dedicated to the memory of renowned Pandavani singer Teejan Bai, and Bahumat, a publication focusing on the folk culture of Chhattisgarh, will also be released during the function. Well-known folk singer Rajni Rajak will present the Chhattisgarh state song. Poet and journalist Dr Vishwesh Thackeray will conduct the programme. The organisers said that late Devi Prasad Chaubey’s sons, Pradeep Chaubey and Ravindra Chaubey, along with several prominent journalists, writers, cultural activists and intellectuals, will attend the event.