The former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah at a press conference in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: It has often been said of the Mahabharata that there is nothing anyone can do or say, which has not already been done and said in that epic. And the Mahabharata Samshodhana Pratishthana (Mahabharata Research Foundation) dedicated to the celebration of the national epic, has proved to be an idea whose time has come.

As the former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah, Chairman of the advisory panel of the foundation, said: "Mahabharata is always relevant and it never loses its appeal."

Success and failure

The Pandavas, he explained, with all their virtue, goodness and expertise, could not triumph in battle without divine intervention. They had their share of success and failure. The message was that failure was certain for those who did not make an attempt at all, but there was a good chance of success for those who tried.

From November 13, the National College Ground at Basavanagudi here will be the venue of a nine-day mega event that will celebrate Mahabharata like never before.

Ramachandra Budihal, a software specialist from Wipro, who is the brain behind the initiative, said at a press conference to announce the event that "it (event) will be positioned as a curtain-raiser to a five-year project to publish a bilingual, 18-volume, 18,000 pages of "The Encyclopaedia of the Mahabharata" project.

Unique initiative

The highlights of the event include the launching of the Digital Mobile Lab set up for conserving and digitising manuscripts, by President A P.J. Abdul Kalam. It will also be the first national integration festival of Indian cultural heritage around the subject of the Mahabharata. It would also be a unique initiative in integration of diverse cultural traditions and traditional, classical art forms centred on the epic. S

ymposia, special lectures and presentation of papers by scholars from India and abroad, and the publication of a rare commentary on Mahabharata, the 500-year-old Mahabharata Lakshaalankara of Vadiraja Tirtha, edited by the foundation.

Exhibitions include a glimpse of the "world's longest canvas painting of the Mahabharata-about 1.7 km long. Original artefacts excavated from Kurukshetra and other places where the historical Mahabharata was played out, are being brought from Sri Krishna Museum in Kurukshetra for display at the show.

The former Vice-Chancellor of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha D. Prahladachar, who is the Chairman of the foundation, said their objective as also that of the event, was the link between the ancient hold on knowledge that India had, and creating awareness about the its relevance today.

The prathisthana was founded in 1997 in Bangalore by software professionals in firms such as IBM, Wipro, and Intel.

The aim was to contextualise India's ancient wisdom and knowledge and use it to improve the quality of life across the globe, he said.

It works closely with the National Mission for Manuscripts, Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

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