STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua Smritiraksha Samiti (SLBSS) has announced plans to promote the literary legacy of Lakshminath Bezbarua through an animated film based on his celebrated folk-tale collection Burhi Aair Sadhu and a full-length Assamese feature film based on one of his notable short stories.
The committee will collaborate with filmmaker V. Jon Modak to undertake the projects next year. Modak has also reportedly received permission to produce a four-episode television serial based on Bezbarua's short stories for Guwahati Doordarshan Kendra.
As part of its efforts to make Bezbarua's writings accessible to a wider audience, the committee is preparing to publish the first issue of a literary magazine titled Rasaraj. The initiative is being undertaken under the leadership of Dr Maheswar Kalita and Dr Sanjib Kumar Sharma.
The committee will confer the 'Asom Hitaishi' Award on Deepak Kumar Panda, its chief adviser, in recognition of his contributions to preserving Bezbarua's permanent residence and sadhana griha at Mandela Chowk in Sambalpur, Odisha. The award will be presented on the occasion of the writer's 162nd birth anniversary this year.
The committee said Panda's efforts had played a significant role in protecting the heritage properties associated with Bezbarua. It added that without his initiative, the Assamese community might have lost the opportunity to rediscover and preserve the writer's residence and place of literary practice.
The restoration of Bezbarua's sadhana griha has been completed with the efforts of the Assam government and the cooperation of the Odisha government. The main residential building is expected to be completed within this year.
Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar-based sculptor Jayanta Das is creating a 12-foot-tall statue of Bezbarua, which is expected to be installed in front of the historic residence in the near future.
The SLBSS will celebrate Bezbarua's 162nd birth anniversary on Wednesday, October 14, in front of his statue on Dipak Barthakur Path, near Tarini Charan Choudhury Girls' High School. The programme will honour his contribution to Assamese literature and culture and highlight efforts to preserve his writings and heritage sites.
Also read: Death anniversary of Lakshminath Bezbarua observed at Gargaon College