The 12th annual edition of the ‘Tirupati Book Festival’ got off to a colourful start at the Vinayaka Nagar grounds, here on Saturday. Sri Venkateswara Vedic University (SVVU) vice-chancellor Rani Sadasiva Murty attended as the chief guest and inaugurated the event, in the presence of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s honorary director N. Satyanarayana Raju.
Mr. Murty congratulated Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for successfully conducting the book festival for the 12th consecutive year and termed it a ‘giant leap’ in promoting the habit of reading books among the younger generations. “Given Tirupati’s reputation as an academic hub, with the presence of nine universities and national institutes, the demand has always been high,” termed Mr. Raju.
Several leading publishers from across the country set up stalls for the nine-day book festival. From philosophy to literature, science to comics, astronomy to astrology, books were available in a wide range of categories. Apart from the stalls, the other major attraction is the cultural centre where discussions, music and dance concerts and spiritual orations were held.
