Reading of the Srimad Bhagawata takes place on the occasion of World Book Day in Sonepur. Telegraph picture

Sonepur, April 24: For over four centuries now, British playwright and poet William Shakespeare has been inspiring million of book lovers all over the world.

His birth and death anniversary both fall on April 23 and is observed as World Book Day by Unesco.

Book lovers of Sonepur have found a novel way to pay tribute to the ‘Bard of Avon’ this year on the occasion of the World Book Day on Saturday.

Mahanadi Sahiyta Sansad, a Sonepur-based literary organisation, teamed up with the district council of culture to begin a movement to revive the tradition of daily reading Srimad Bhagawata (a religious text) in Oriya homes, a habit that is fast declining. Several book lovers of the town joined the campaign as organisers performed a puja of the most valuable and holy book of Orissa, which is written by Jagannath Das.

Benudhar Pradhan, a member of the district council of culture, said in the good old days people in most Oriya homes used to begin their day by reading excerpts from Srimad Bhagawata. “Cultural invasion and excessive electronic media has kept people away from books. Also, people have now become more materialistic and they have no time for spirituality and divinity. Earlier, people used to begin their days by reciting a few stanzas from any chapter of the Srimad Bhagawata. Now, the habit of reading Bhagawata is fast declining. From today, we started the campaign to revive the age-old tradition Bhagawata reading in our homes. Today, we performed puja of the holy book to pay tribute to the world’s most influential writer of all time, William Shakespeare,” Pradhan said.

The campaign, a brainchild of the Mahanadi Sahitya Sansad, will be taken to the doors of the people. President of Mahanadi Sahiyta Sansad, Purusottam Mishra, said they were taking the Srimad Bhagawata to the home of the people.

“With the help of the district administration, we plan to educate people about the benefits of reading the Bhagawata. We will conduct reading sessions of small groups of people and discuss the morals. This will not only help them develop the habit of reading the most important and holy book of Orissa, but also shape their lives. These days, people, especially the youth, are wayward. We have already begun this in the villages as part of our campaign to revive the Bhagawata tungis,” Mishra said. District culture officer of Subarnapur, Gadadhar Barik, said it was a joint effort on the part of the district administration and Mahanadi Sahiyta Sansad to revive reading of the Bhagawata.

“We have already launched a movement to revive the tradition of Bhagawata tungis in the villages and have succeeded to a certain extent,” Barik said.