Tulu Wikipedians celebrate their 10th anniversary in Mangaluru on Saturday
Stay updated with the latest Mangaluru news. The two-day event will feature panel discussions on Tulu in the digital world, artificial intelligence and other topics. President of the group, Vishwanatha Badikana, treasurer Kishore Kumar Rai Sheni and administrator Bharathesha Alasandemajalu were present. Download the TOI App.
Dr U B Pavanaja who played a pivotal role in the formation of the Tulu Wikipedia, in his keynote address, said the project has grown to nearly 40,000 articles over the past 10 years. She also congratulated the community on completing 10 years.
Mangaluru: Tulu literature, currently largely limited to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, must go beyond the region and reach across the country and outside India, said Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president Taranath Gatti Kapikad. Gatti said Tulu has a vast literary and cultural wealth, but much of it remains confined to the region, stressing the need to make Tulu literature available in Indian and international languages to reach a wider audience. He said digital platforms offer an opportunity to document Tulu’s literary and cultural wealth, stressing the need for authentic, well-researched material. He said projects documenting Tulu culture, traditions, food and community practices could help make its language and heritage accessible to a wider audience. Ranjith from Wikimedians Kerala User Group said Tulu has a relatively small number of speakers compared to other languages, making sustained community participation essential to preserving both the language and its knowledge. In a message, Wikipedia’s CEO Bernadette M Meehan said that the combined work across Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikisource and Wikimedia Commons was creating an open repository of Tulu language and cultural heritage. She said community-created and verified Tulu content was particularly valuable amid the rise of AI-generated content, and that every edit and contribution was important to the future of Wikimedia projects.
He urged researchers, teachers, writers and scholars to contribute reliable, well-researched material and prevent inaccurate information from being circulated online. He described the work of the Karavali Wikimedians User Group and Tulu Wikipedia as an important milestone in documenting Tulu, and urged the younger generation to take it forward. Such digital efforts could help the language grow and bring knowledge about Tulu to the world, he added. Vikas Hegde of Kannada Wikipedians also highlighted the need to strengthen the presence of Tulu on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms.
Speaking at the inaugural event of the two-day Karavali Wikimedians User Group’s decennial celebration on Saturday, Gatti stressed the need for more youth and people to come forward and contribute to the Tulu language.