Kathmandu, Feb. 24: Embassy of India, Kathmandu jointly with Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center, Central Department of Hindi, Tribhuvan University, Valmiki Vidyapeeth of Nepal Sanskrit University and Akshar Yatri Pratishthan, India organized 'Nepal-India Multilingual Poetry Festival' on the occasion of International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2023.

Chancellor of Nepal Academy Bhupal Rai graced the event as the Chief Guest. In his address, he highlighted the importance of mother tongues and said that cultural and literary relations between Nepal and India will be further strengthened by such events.

Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu Prasanna Srivastava was also present. Distinguished Marathi litterateur from India Dr. Swati ShindePawar and Nepal's senior writer and litterateur Dr. Ganga Prasad Akela were present as special guests.

The program was presided over by Dr. SanjitaVerma, Head of the Department of Hindi, Tribhuvan University. The program was coordinated by Dr. AsawariBapat, Director, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center, Embassy of India, Kathmandu.

During the program, poets from India and Nepal recited poetry in Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Doteli, Maithili, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu and English languages. More than 100 poets, litterateurs, linguists and writers participated in the program. Among them were also the office bearers and members of Akshar Yatri Pratishthan who had specially come to Kathmandu from India to participate in this program.

According to a press release issued by the Embassy of India, Kathmandu, International Mother Language Day is celebrated every year on 21 February to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism in the world. In the year 1999, UNESCO had declared to celebrate it. International Mother Language Day is celebrated to commemorate the historical language movement in Bangladesh in the year 1952.