The meet, which is all set to begin on December 10, will showcase the Tulu language and culture to the world.
The sleepy town of Ujire in Belthangady taluk, in the lap of the Western Ghats, is all decked up as it prepares to host a four-day-long world Tulu meet.
The meet, scheduled to begin on December 10, will showcase the Tulu language and culture. The town has been transformed into a wonderland of folk traditions and performing arts. A replica of a Tulu village is also being set up as part of the meet.
Tulu figures last among the south Indian languages or Pancha Dravida Bhasha (Five Dravidian languages) – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. However, it lacks the kind of patronage that the other four languages enjoy.
Thanks to the efforts of a group of scholars, Tulu is gradually gaining prominence under the tutelage of Dr D Veerendra Heggade Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala.
The world meet will raise several issues that have divested Tulu of its due recognition. T
he first on the agenda will be the inclusion of Tulu into the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Dr Heggade said, “The issue of revival of the Tulu script will also be discussed in the world meet, and many lexicographers and calligraphists will participate in the technical sessions to shed light on the subject. I have already displayed the Tulu alphabets at the museum in Dharmasthala and they will be used to make experts deliberate on the issue.”
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has decided to have its own Tulu Sahitya Academy at Kasargod. The academy has been allotted a corpus of Rs20 lakh. The Dravidan University at Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh has a separate Tulu department and research facility.
‘Tulunadu’ stretches between the Payaswini Chandragiri river in the south and Shiroorghat in the north, and Arabian Sea in the west and Western Ghats in the east.
The word ‘Tulu’ originated from a colloquial expression, ‘Neeru’ (water), and Tulunadu stands for the mass of land with water in plenty. The presence of the Arabian Sea and the origin of several rivers in the Western Ghats has given birth to the term.
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