The Third Pragjyotishpur Literature Festival, with a series of fascinating deliberations, will open up the doors for author-translators, art-connoisseurs, critics, budding writers, performing artists, and translators with other literature enthusiasts to rediscover the legacy of far eastern Bharat. Organized by Sankardev Education and Research Foundation with the theme titled ‘In Search of Roots’, the annual Pragjyotishpur Litfest (PLF) will host a number of luminaries while celebrating the region’s rich literary and cultural heritage. The three-day festival (14, 15 and 16 November 2025) in the prehistoric city of Guwahati will comprise a series of panel discussions, interactive sessions, a workshop on contemporary nature writing, multilingual poetry recitations, etc, which is expected to emerge as an intellectual treat for the audience.
Five intriguing sessions– the ‘Evolution of Assamese Performing Arts: From Ankiya Bhawana to Bhramyman’, ‘Evolution of Assamese Lyric Literature: Tracing the Journey from the 1990s to the Contemporary Era’, ‘Assamese Language, Literature and Journalism: Growth and Expansion’, ‘Transcending Language Boundaries: The Triumphant Journey of Assamese Translated Literature’ and ‘The Creative World of Novelist Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya: An Exploratory Journey’– are waiting for literature enthusiasts during the up-coming PLF carnival. A special session on Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, a towering personality contributing enormously for Assamese music, painting, literature and also politics, a workshop on nature inspiring literature, outdoor multilingual poetry sessions bringing together voices from diverse linguistic entities including Asomiya, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Bodo, Karbi, Mishing, Nepali, Bengali, Rabha, Tiwa, etc are also on the card.
The PLF 2024 concluded with a high note, inspiring the participants from various parts of the region with a number of engaging sessions and workshops embracing novice writers, intellectuals, and cultural researchers. It was inaugurated by Dr Malini Goswami, former vice-chancellor of Assam Women’s University, in the gracious presence of renowned economist Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Supreme Court advocate J Sai Deepak, Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Anand Ranganathan, eminent historian Sanjeev Sanyal, SERF chairman Lt Gen (retired) Rana Pratap Kalita, organising president Taren Boro with many other distinguished personalities. On the other hand, its closing function witnessed the presentation of PLF awards to veteran Nepali author Bidyapati Dahal and emerging author Suprakash Bhuyan (in the promising writer’s category), where renowned academician Dr. Amarjyoti Choudhury was present as the chief guest. Expressing gratitude for the honour, Dahal, who is a Sanskrit scholar contributing to Nepali and Hindi literature, stated that it motivated him to create more literary works in the coming days. On the other hand, Bhuyan, who is known for thought-provoking stories in Assamese literary magazines, commented that the award reinforced his responsibility towards the literary craft.
Various Indian cities currently host a number of annual literature festivals propagating regional literary works with a great enthusiasm, where hundreds of thousands of readers, writer-authors, playwrights, scholars, social thinkers, music-film appreciators, editor-journalists and literature-buffs rub their shoulders. The PLF has now joined the club of national literary events comprising Jaipur Literary Festival, Apeejay Kolkata Litfest, Kalinga Litfest, Bharat Litfest, Hyderabad Litfest, Koshala Litfest, Bangalore Litfest, Kerala Litfest, Mumbai Queensline Litfest, Nagpur Orange City Litfest, Gurgaon Litfest, Chandigarh Litfest, Delhi Litfest, Patna Litfest, Nalanda Litfest, Dehradun Valley of Words, Kumaon Festival of Literature & Arts, Times Litfest, Goa Arts and Literature Festival, Bundelkhand Litfest, Lucknow Litfest, Mathrubhumi Litfest, Kashmir Litfest, Jamshedpur Litfest, Western Ghats Litfest, Guwahati Litfest, Shillong Litfest, Imphal Litfest, etc.
PLF president Phanindra Kumar Dev Choudhury, emphasized showcasing the history, culture, and languages of the land, once known as Pragjyotishpur (also later Kamrup kingdom), where the capital was located roughly in present-day Guwahati, in the right perspective. Expressing dissatisfaction over the tendency of many highly educated individuals to undermine the heritage of their own land, Dev Choudhury exclaimed that many authors try to define Indian literature through the lens of foreign writers, thus ignoring the serenity of ancient Indian civilizations. Prior to the PLF, Guwahati witnessed three editions of the Brahmaputra Literary Festival, which was patronized by the state-owned publishing institutions namely, the National Book Trust (NBT) and the Publication Board Assam at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra. He hoped that the PLF 2025 will continue its endeavour to redefine the legacy of the Kamrup-Kamakhya civilization.