Ullal: It has been decided that veerarani Abbakka utsava, which is organized every year by the Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samithi in Ullal, will be celebrated on February 4 without any government sponsorship and grant at Mahatma Gandhi RangaMandira in Ullal Municipality, said Jayaram Shetty, honorary president of the samiti and former MLA. Addressing a press conference at a private hotel near Kattaru here, he said that since the inception of Ullal Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samithi (RE) in 1997, the Department of Kannada and Culture,
The government of Karnataka, in collaboration with the District Administration, has been celebrating Veerarani Abbakka Utsava with great pomp and show for many years with public donations and on several occasions in association with the District Administration. Veerarani Abbakka Utsava 2021 was celebrated with great pomp and gaiety by Ullal Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samiti in association with Tulu Academy. In 2022, the lack of government funding has made it impossible to implement.
President Dinakar Ullal said that this time the district administration has been given Rs 1,000 crore to celebrate the Abbakka festival. A grant of Rs 10 lakh has come to the treasury. Every time the committee questions the district administration, they have been saying that a decision will be taken after holding a meeting. As a result, there has been no abbakka festival for 1 year. It has been decided to hold the festival this time and the date for the festival has been fixed before the exams of the students are approaching. It is a one-day event that starts in the morning and goes on till late at night. Kannada, Tulu, Beary Cultural Programme, Kavisammelan, Seminar, Abbakka Puraskaram/ Abbakka Puraskaram, Drama, Yakshagana, etc. are organized in this Veerarani Abbakka Festival.
The program will be inaugurated by Dr. M.N. Rajendrakumar, President, of SCDCC Bank at 10 am. District in-charge minister Sunil Kumar, Lok Sabha member Nalin Kumar Kateel, local MLA and former minister U T Khader and other dignitaries will attend the valedictory function.
The Ullal Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samithi has expressed regret that even after 11 years of laying the foundation stone for the construction of Abbakka Bhavana on 41 cents of land near the new bus stand at Thokkottai in Ullal Municipality, the construction work of Abbakka Bhavan has not started yet. The Ullal Veerarani Abbakka Committee has already met the new Deputy Commissioner and has re-submitted a memorandum to start the Abbakka Bhavan immediately. For the past 27 years, the Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samiti of Ullal has been demanding that the Mangaluru International Airport be named after veerarani Abbakka of Ullal, the country’s first freedom fighter who fought against the colonial Portuguese. “We will again insist that the government has not taken any action in this regard so far,” he said.
Committee General Secretary Dhanalakshmi Gatti, Honorary Vice-President Sadananda Bangera, Treasurer Anand K. Asaigoli, Vice-President U.P. Aliyabba, Devaki R Ullal, and others were present.
