Nainital, The Himalayan Echoes literary festival, featuring over 25 speakers in around 15 sessions, came to a conclusion here on Sunday.
The three-day event, also called the Kumaon festival of arts and literature, took place amid the scenic beauty and cultural heritage of Abbotsford — a heritage villa dating back to 1860s.
The concluding day was marked by meditation, a talk on Himalayan mountaineering routes, and a discussion on author and former Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma’s book on Hindu philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.
The day began with writer and classical violinist Joshua Pollock engaging the audience in a brief meditation session, and presentation of his new book, “The Heartfulness Way”.
The festival also saw distinct mountaineer and Royal Geographic Society’s Patron’s Medal winner Harish Kapadia talking about his book “Legendary Maps of the Himalayan Club”, with author Stephen Alter.
Apart from bringing to surface the importance of sketch maps for trekkers and mountaineers, the session had the two Himalayas lovers share anecdotes from the world of mountaineers.
The day also had JCB literature prize-shortlisted bestselling author Anuradha Roy discussing her latest and fourth book “All The Lives We Never Lived”, where she articulated the process of writing the novel.
The event also saw the launch of Viky Arya’s Hindi poetry book, in physical as well as audio format.
Non-profit Artreach India conducted a five-day art workshop with local school children producing an art installation made out of junk.
Launched by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Chief Executive Lobsang Sangay on Friday as part of a curtain-raiser to the fest, the installation called the “Kabadpur” explores the space of the city and the waste it produces, through upcycling garbage into something artful.
A session on the art of recycling by visual artists Manish Pushkale, Kinny Sandhu and Ita Mehrotra, gave perspectives on art and the importance of incorporating arts into the education curricula.
The festival concluded with a conversation between food critic and historian Pushpesh Pant with author-politician Pavan Kumar Varma.
The session gripped the audience’s attention on topics ranging from the sheer expanse of the cosmos to Hinduism as a philosophy and a religion, and to Adi Shankaracharya’s life.
“Himalayan Echoes” is mentored by writer-publisher Namita Gokhale, advised by advocate Anish Dayal and directed by author Janhavi Prasada.
On the first day of the festival, authors like Patrick French, Shobhaa De, and Saif Mahmood had talked about various themes.
