haveri chief minister d v sadananda gowda on saturday inaugurated the countrys first folk university at gotagodi near shiggaon in haveri district speaking on the occasion the cm said the varsity will preserve and promote the rich folk art literature and culture of the state he announced rs 18 crore for taking up development works at the varsity he also advised the varsity to start interdisciplinary studies related to folklore he laid the foundation stone for several construction works at the site the karnataka folklore university provides an opportunity to study various aspects of folk culture not only of karnataka but also of other states in south india it offers mamsc degrees in folklore communication ancient science mba in rural business and management mphil and phd in 16 courses according to vice chancellor ambalike hiriyanna higher studies the varsity facilitates higher studies in folk art literature music theatre handicrafts traditional system of medicine traditional agriculture practices food habits and cottage industries among others ambalike hiriyanna said that from this academic year varsity will start six departments and a couple of certificate courses for which the varsity has already prepared syllabus right now the varsity is facing shortage of classrooms and plans to conduct classes in present building and in some of the colleges of shiggaon town the new wellequipped campus will come up on 122 acres of area provided by the state government there is opportunity for comparative study of culture of kannada speaking people and those speaking other dravidian languages development of neglected communities in rural areas and bringing them into the mainstream strengthening indigenous culture to face the challenges of globalization digitalization of rare folk literature collection and preservation of rare antique articles and ancient materials setting up of museums to showcase these rare materials publication of folk literature and translation of kannada folk literature into english and other indian languages and translation of folk literature of other languages into kannada are among the objectives of the university he said ambalike said the varsity will also organize programmes to eradicate superstitions that are harmful to the development of human society on employment opportunities for those completing the study at the varsity he said they would be empowered to take up selfemployment and be self reliant besides the tribals and neglected classes would be made part of rural development activities the vice chancellor added experts hail specialized varsity academicians and folk artistes have enthusiastically greeted the opening of the karnataka folklore university and they hope the specialized varsity will uphold the rich culture language and heritage of the land speaking to stoi prof p t lakkannavar folk literature professor of besm college byadgi said that the new varsity will help revive rural culture traditional methods of agriculture and medicine it will save the literature and language of the land from the assault by english language and western culture he called upon the teachers and students of the varsity to mingle and interact with rural people so as to understand