Jaipur Literature Festival begins

Jaipur, Feb 1 (IANS) The 17th edition of the world-famous Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) will begin from Thursday in Jaipur. On the very first day, literature lovers will get a chance to attend sessions of personalities like Gulzar, Raghuram Rajan and Ajay Jadeja.

JLF was inaugurated by Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari at 9.30 am at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur.

Litterateurs from across the country are participating in this 5-day festival. A new venue 'Nandghar' has also been built for the festival.

The festival’s earlier venue called Mughal Tent had run into controversy over its name.

Notably, the name of the tent sparked controversy last year when several BJP leaders objected to it. “In Hollywood, the word 'Mughal' is used to look at a certain lifestyle and not to denote any religion or community,” JLF organiser Sanjoy K Roy had said.

Lyricist Gulzar will be seen reciting poems during the poetry session on the first day of JLF. Former Indian team cricketer Ajay Jadeja will also be seen sharing his experiences related to cricket. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan will talk on the future economy. There will be a performance by singer Kalapini Komkali.

Litterateurs from 10 Indian languages and 7 international languages have also been included in this season JLF. It will host over 550 speakers for the 2024 edition. These include Booker, International Booker, Pulitzer, Sahitya Akademi, Padmashree, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Baillie Gifford, DSC Prize, JCB Award winning writers.

Many topics including history, politics and current affairs, gender, science and medicine, food, myths, spirituality and religion, mental health, fashion and lifestyle, law and justice, geopolitics, sports, climate change, environment will be discussed in JLF.