Mysore/Mysuru: ‘Kannada Nadageethe,’ scripted by Poet Laureate Kuvempu, rented the air at Open Air Theatre in Manasagangothri campus this morning, as nearly 25,000 college students and staff from various Departments sang ‘Nadageethe’ (Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujathe, Jayahe Karnataka Mathe…) in chorus in celebration of ‘Nadageethe-100 — Savira Swaragala Sambhrama.’

The event was organised by University of Mysore, in association with Dasara Kavigoshti Sub-Committee, in honour of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, who  had served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Varsity decades  ago. Kuvempu had written Nadageethe in 1924 as a 20-year-old youth, under his then pen name ‘Kishora Chandravani.’ This was endorsed by Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bengaluru, in 1971 and officially adopted as State Anthem (of two-and-half-minute duration) in 2004, marking the Birth Centenary of Kuvempu.

Speaking on the occasion, senior writer Dr. Aravind Malagatti said that Kuvempu sent out a message of peace, harmony, universal brotherhood and co-existence, in his Nadageethe.

Stating that his voice too is among thousands who rendered Nadageethe, Dr. Malagatti said, he was addressing a gathering of ‘50,000 eyes’ which was a truly special occasion for him. “Nadageethe, the crown of Karnataka, first came to fore during a Congress Session chaired by Gandhiji in the first quarter of the last century. The State Anthem has a big tradition and everyone feels emotional whenever it is rendered or heard,” he noted.