One of the leading literature events of the Indian sub-continent, the fourth DSC Jaipur Literature Festival kicked off in a grand style with the inauguration by the Governor of Rajasthan, S K Singh.

Since its beginning, the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival has been hosted by the Diggi Palace Hotel. In order to celebrate the festival opening, the whole palace was packed with an enthusiastic crowd.

The festival reaches out not only to Indian-origin authors but also to others from the subcontinent including this year “a crop of hugely talented young Pakistani writers” such as Mohamed Hanif, author of the critically acclaimed novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes. A galaxy of over 167 well-known authors from India and the world would play host to the festival.

Though the terror attacks in Mumbai has shaken and affected the relations between India and Pakistan, but festival organisers hope to take a lead in keeping cultural ties alive between the two countries.

Sanjoy Roy who is the producer of this festival said that the authors would celebrate both oral traditions and the written form. Roy hopes that the festival would be a ‘platform for new ideas, new thoughts and a vision to understand our world that is going through troubled times.’

Speaking on this, Manhad Narula, Director, DSC Limited said that literature is a force that can build and strengthen our social infrastructure. According to Narula , literature is a powerful medium that can bring people from varied backgrounds and talent together and encourage useful discourse and debate.

In his keynote address, UR Ananthamurthy said, “We in India we have always lived in an ambience of languages, a multiplicity of languages that brings a kind of richness that is not there in European literature, and it is to be celebrated.”

The guest list includes the likes of Neville Tuli, the chairman of the Mumbai-based art auction house Osian’s that is taking part for the first time, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) director general Pavan Varma and Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan, who will attend a reading session of his biography ‘Bachchanalia’.

Apart from this, bigwigs from the social and literary circuits of Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur are attending this festival.

Vikram Seth was the star attraction on Day 1.

The five day festival would end on Sunday evening.