Pandit Birju Maharaj (centre) at the inauguration of the book fair in Gaya on Sunday. Picture by Suman

Gaya, Feb. 19: Book lovers have a lot to look forward to at Gandhi Maidan in the next 10 days. Padmavibhushan recipient Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj today inaugurated the 10-day Magadh Book Fair-cum-Cultural Mahotsava, 2012, there.

Rashtra Kavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Smriti Nyas has organised the book fair to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. It would conclude on February 28.

During the inaugural session, Pandit Birju Maharaj released a book titled Samarshesh that focuses on the life of Rashtra Kavi Dinkar.

The speakers at the inaugural session underlined the role of books in the era of Internet. “Information about everything may be available on the Net but eventually we have to take a print out of the texts that we need to preserve, so that we can go through them anytime,” said Radha Nand Singh, the president of Gaya District Hindi Sahitya Sammelan.

The organisers said the primary objective of the book fair was to encourage the youths to develop the habit of reading good books.

“Around 150 stalls have been set up (at the book fair). Nearly 50 leading publishers of the country such as Rajkamal, Sahitya Akademi, Hindi Kendriya Sansthan, Rajpal and Sons, Sahitya Darpana and Sahni Publications have set up their stalls here,” Rashtra Kavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Smriti Nyas president Neeraj Kumar said.

Stalls of Japan-based religious organisation Happy Science and Gaya District Hindi Sahitya Sammelan have found their place in the 10-day fair. There are different sections in the fair dedicated to children, women and elderly people.

“Books on different subjects such as literature, academics, short stories and astrology are available at the stalls,” book fair media in-charge Rajnish Kumar said.

To draw the attention of the people and add variety to the book fair, cultural programmes would be organised on each evening. While Birju Maharaj performed today, performances of Anup Jalota and qawwali artist Chanchal Bharti would follow in the next few days. Inter-school competitions would also be organised at the fair tomorrow onwards.