Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Inaugurate Event with World Records and Literary Celebrations

The Pune Book Festival, designed to promote the reading movement and enhance Pune’s cultural identity, will be inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today, Saturday, at 5 PM at the Fergusson College grounds.

Rajesh Pande, the chief organizer of the festival, has encouraged the people of Pune to attend the inauguration in large numbers. The festival, which will run until December 22, carries the theme “Celebrating Words, Cultures, and Connections” and will feature more than 600 stalls.

Organized by the National Book Trust (NBT), the festival will offer a wide range of literary experiences, with books spanning fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s literature, self-help, and academic works. The festival promises to be a multilingual celebration, with books available in Indian and global languages, catering to a diverse range of readers.

Pande shared that the preparations for the event are in their final stages, with the inauguration expected to be a grand occasion, attracting thousands of visitors from Pune. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is scheduled to visit the book stalls, interact with authors, literary figures, and publishers, providing an excellent opportunity for Punekars to engage with the CM.

A major highlight of this year’s festival will be the unveiling of a knowledge banner honoring the contributions of saints, revolutionaries, and social reformers from the Pune region. Students from 101 colleges affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University will participate in this initiative.

Kothrud MLA Chandrakant Patil, along with Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Additional Police Commissioner Manoj Patil, and Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Singh Gill, reviewed the preparations for the festival. The event also set a world record by creating a unique Saraswati symbol made of 10,000 books. This is one of four world records planned for the festival. Last year, the event made headlines by setting a record with 3,066 parents reading stories to their children simultaneously, surpassing China.

Another record, created on December 15, 2023, was a tribute to the saints and the nation, with 7,500 books by various saints arranged to form the shape of ‘Bharat’. On December 16, 2023, a record was set by arranging 18,751 copies of Prime Minister Modi’s book Exam Warriors to spell out the words “Jayatu Bharat.” Additionally, on December 21, 2023, 11,043 citizens collectively narrated the story of Prabhu Shri Ram within 30 seconds, setting the record for the largest video album of people reading the same content in a given time frame.