`Konkani village` in Mangalore

The foundation stone for the Rs 5 crore ‘Konkani Gaon’ (Konkani village) at Shaktinagar here was laid by P Dayanand Pai, president, P Sathish Pai Trust, recently.

The Konkani Gaon will be spread over three acres which would mainly comprise of the Konkani Kendra (Konkani Centre) and Rs 2.5 crore would be spent on the first stage.

The Gaon is being established by the Konkani Bhas Ani Sanskriti Prathishtan (Konkani Language and Culture Foundation).

The Konkani Kendra would include a World Konkani Museum (7,050 sq ft), World Konkani Library (2,000 sq ft), World Konkani Research Centre (3,500 sq ft), a conference hall (2,050 sq ft), administrative block, two seminar halls, hostels and four heritage homes. The first stage of the project will comprise the administrative block and hostels and they will be completed in two years.

According to Basti Vaman Shenoy, President of the Foundation, the activities of the Kendra would not only be focussed on the preservation of the Konkani heritage but also on its active promotion among the Konkani speaking people spread over the world through the use of modern technology.

It would be a home for all Konkani speaking people, be they Christians, Hindus or Muslims. A unique feature of the Kendra would be the on-line Konkani language training in collaboration with the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore. This will benefit the children of NRIs and others who are not well-versed with the language.

Shenoy said in order to promote talent academies and committees like the World Konkani Sahitya Academy, World Konkani Sangeet Nritya Academy, World Konkani Natak Academy, World Konkani Lokaveda Academy, World Konkani Research Committee, World Konkani Library Committee, World Konkani Museum Committee, and World Konkani Education Committee would be formed soon.