History Literature Festival opens in Hyderabad with focus on modern statesmen, art, music traditions

The three-day History Literature Festival commenced at the Hyderabad Public School on Friday, bringing together historians, authors, academics and researchers for wide-ranging discussions on the ideas and debates shaping historical understanding.

The opening session, titled ‘Two Modern Statesmen: KM Panikkar and M Visvesvaraya’, featured authors Narayani Basu and Aparajith Ramnath in conversation with Amar Farooqui.

Speaking on diplomat K.M. Panikkar, Ms.Basu, who has written his biography ‘A Man for All Seasons’, traced his return to India in 1918 against the backdrop of political upheaval following the First World War, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Rowlatt Acts. She said while Panikkar was sympathetic to the growing nationalist mood, he chose to honour his academic commitment at Aligarh Muslim University when urged to join the Non-Cooperation Movement, reflecting what she described as a strong sense of institutional duty.

Aparajith Ramnath, speaking on ‘Father of Indian Engineering’ M. Visvesvaraya, highlighted his central role in conceptualising large-scale engineering projects, particularly reservoirs. He described the Krishna Raja Sagar dam on the Kaveri as a pioneering multi-purpose project designed to serve irrigation, power generation and drinking water needs. Although Visvesvaraya became the public face of the project, Mr.Ramnath underlined that it was a collective effort built over nearly 20 years and one that faced financial as well as political resistance.

Another session titled ‘Sculpting the Past: Ancient Art of India’ featured Parul Pandya Dhar, Naman Ahuja and Pushkar Sohoni. Ms.Dhar argued that artistic influences are not unidirectional and spoke about Indo-Asian iconographies during her presentation. Mr.Ahuja examined themes of migration and transculturalism in shaping artistic traditions. Mr.Sohoni critiqued the manner in which history is taught in India, observing that it has often been stripped of vibrancy. He also discussed the architecture of the Deccan Sultanate, situating it within broader cultural and political currents.

The festival then moved to a session titled ‘Melodies Through Time: Snippets of Music History’ featuring Sumana Ramanan, Priya Purushothaman and Vidya Rao, who explored strands of musical history and performance traditions across regions.

The day concluded with ‘The Call of Hearts in Love: Myriad Living Traditions of Qawwali’ featuring Kathak dancer and researcher Manjari Chaturvedi and the Warsi Brothers, bringing the proceedings to a close with a celebration of devotional music traditions.

The festival will conclude on Sunday.