46-km run marks Basava Jayanti celebrations in Vijayapura

Marathoners who ran from Basavana Bagewadi to Vijayapura as part of Basava Jayanti celebrations being welcomed in Vijayapura on Friday morning. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A team of marathoners celebrated Basava Jayanti in a unique manner in Vijayapura on Friday.

The team led by Basanagouda B. Patil, a Bengaluru-based engineer and his friends, participated in the marathon that was organised from Basavana Bagewadi, birthplace of Sri Basavanna, to Vijayapura.

The team completed the 46-km run which started in the evening of Thursday and concluded in the morning of Friday.

The participants began the run from Basavana Bagewadi on Thursday evening. They were welcomed by Vijayapura-based marathoners like Mahantesh Biradar and members of the Bijapur Cycling Group at the Basaveshwar Circle in Vijayapura in the morning on Friday.

Mr. Patil, who hails from Handiganur village in Vijayapura district, said that he has been running the marathon on Basava Jayanti for 12 years now. He calls it Basava Jyoti Yatre and said that it is one of the means to spread awareness about Basavanna’s ideology.

This year, he was accompanied by 63-year-old ultra runner Jagdish Damania, Chandrasekhar Chimakode, Mallikarjun Avanti, Abhinanda Bedage, Prasad Sringeri, S. Bagali, Raghu Salotagi, Raju Yelagonda and Bhimanna Gouda Biradar.