Guwahati: Third Pragjyotishpur Literature Festival with a series of fascinating deliberations will open up the doors for author-translators, art-connoisseurs, critics, budding writers, performing artistes, translators with other literature enthusiasts to rediscover the cultural legacy of far eastern Bharat. Organized by Sankardev Education and Research Foundation (SERF) 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 comprising 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. 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.
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 in 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 on showcasing the history, culture and languages of the land, once known as Pragjyotishpur (also later Kamrup kingdom), where the capital was located roughly in the 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 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 Kamrup-Kamakhya civilization.
