Uncertainty Looms Over Thanjavur Book Festival

Book lovers fear cancellation of Thanjavur Book Festival as officials cite budget concerns; uncertainty leaves readers and writers disappointed.

on Aug 25, 2025

Uncertainty Looms Over Thanjavur Book Festival

With July, when the district administration's Thanjavur Book Festival typically is held, often more than a month ago, book enthusiasts in Thanjavur and surrounding localities are worried about the chances of the eighth edition of the yearly fair happening at all this year. Although in the past there were yearly book fairs conducted in Thanjavur by different organisations such as Rotary clubs, it was only in 2015 that the district administration launched its first Thanjavur Book Festival in association with the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (Bapasi).

The book fair had been a regular event every year since then at the palace complex in the city, with the exception of 2020 to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas the inaugural edition of the book fair in 2015 was conducted during the month of June, it was conducted during the month of July from the following year. There has been, however, no announcement about the eighth edition of the book fair yet, lament book lovers. "Those who could not come to Chennai for the bi-annual book fair conducted during December to January used to purchase the new releases in the fair conducted during July. Further more authors of the district too are keen to showcase their work in a special stall that was allotted for them during last year's book fair," N Premasayee, a writer from Tiruvaiyaru, said.

The book fair was once a spot where school and college students acquired the habit of purchasing books, he added. On being contacted, SK Murugan, the secretary at Bapasi, stated that he had approached the district administration three times this year for dates for holding the book fair. "They said they will get back," he added. When questioned, district administration officials replied that talks on holding the fair are on and that the dates have not been finalized. Secretive inquiries, however, brought out that there are issues regarding the budget for the fair.

"The expense of getting the big hall ready to host the 100-or-so book stalls will cost more than Rs 40 lakh. In addition to that, there will be costs incurred during organizing special literary events daily in a different pandal," said an official who was involved in organizing the book festival earlier. Another government official, however, added, "We used to arrange the fair when the state government didn't give us any funding. Now, the government gives Rs 25 lakh annually. With the sponsor's contribution, the fair could be arranged successfully."