Eco-Watch, Centre for Environment & Sustainable Development, based in Bangalore, and more active in North Karnataka, is organizing the event, namely “Aghanashini River Festival” at Aghanashini village situated on the bank of the River‘Aghanashini’ in Kumta taluk, Uttara Kanada district.

Aghanashini is about 15 kms from Kumta, a coastal town in Uttara Kannada district, on the West Coast of Karnataka. By now the world knows that the Western Ghats are an important ecological landmark of peninsular India, and in this Western Ghats, the treasure trove of evergreen forests, wet grasslands and shoal forests, moist deciduous forests, perennial rivers and rich wildlife, Aghanashini River, takes its birth. Aghanashini is an ancient river, older than the holy Ganga. The Western Ghats were formed around 88 million years ago, while the Himalayas were formed around 50 million years ago. Aghanashini River Festival, hence, assumes an added significance. When the Aghanashini joins the Arabian Sea near Gokarna, the world famous tourist destination, it turns into an impressive spectacle of beauty, wonder and sheer joy.

People worship ‘Aghanashini’ as the ‘destroyer of sins’. Aghanashini is also the lifeline and a source of livelihood for thousands of fishermen who live along the bank of this river. The objective of this “Aghanashini River Festival” is to emphasize the importance of the Western Ghats, which, along with the rainforests of South America help maintain the ecological balance of our planet. They indeed are the ‘Girdle of the Earth’.

Aghanashini River Festival will showcase the wish to achieve synergy between promoting tourism and conserve the ecological capital – the ‘Western Ghats’. Sri. R.V. Deshpande, Hon’ble Minister for Tourism & Higher Education, will be inaugurating the festival on the 22^nd Feb. Distinguished guests such as historians, ecologists, scientists, artists, local communities, religious leaders and others are also invited to participate in this event. 

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The event brochure and poster can be downloaded from below.