Bhubaneswar, Nov. 16: The messages of Bhagvad Gita and the preachings of Buddha, along with the life stories of many spiritual leaders are attracting city residents to a book fair on spirituality.

The fair is taking place at the Durga Mandap in Saheed Nagar. Books on various aspects of spirituality are available at the fourth edition of this national-level book fair.

More than 50 publishers of religious and spiritual books have set up kiosks at the festival that began on Saturday. The nine-day event offers a wide range of books on versatile topics that interest readers of mythology, religion and spiritual philosophy.

Epics such as Ramayan and Mahabharat and many other ancient texts such as Charak Samhita and Chanakya Niti have a great following at the book fair while short biographies on Buddha, Mahavir and Prophet Mohammed are also available.

Publishers taking part at the fair include Gita Press, Art of Living, Chetana and Iskcon. The books are available in Odia, Hindi, English and Bengali.

Inspirational books such as Mahatma Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth, APJ Kalam's Wings of Fire and self-help books such as You Can Win by Shiv Khera are still popular among young students while senior citizens and corporate employees are seen opting for religious tomes.

"Work and family life become complex as we grow older and we need examples and lessons from mythology and philosophy of our saints to guide our decisions and behaviour. That is one reason why I picked up the Bhagvad Gita," said Chinmayee Mishra, a corporate employee.

Apart from books one can find Feng Shui, Reiki and other kiosks at the fair. Health related books and equipment for daily use such as yoga mats, wooden rollers for body pain and acupressure foot stands are also being sold.

"The book fair is an effort to make philosophical, spiritual as well as health books easily available for readers at one place. Spiritual deliberations are also conducted in the evenings," said Murali Manohar Sharma, president of the book fair committee.

The fair concludes on November 22.