Pusthaka Habba 2026 Sanganikethana
A Meeting of Literature, Storytelling and Theatre
Kalabhi Theatre Express continued its journey of taking stories and live performance to diverse audiences with its participation in Pustaka Habba 2026, held from 16 to 18 August 2026 at Sanghaniketan, Mannagudda, Mangaluru. Organised by Sahitya Kendra, Mangaluru, the three-day literary and cultural gathering brought together books, readers, writers, discussions and a range of cultural presentations.
As part of the festival, Kalabhi Theatre Express presented “Ajji Kathegalu,” bringing the spirit of oral storytelling and live theatre into the literary environment of Pustaka Habba. The travelling repertory presentation, built around storytelling, performance, character transformation and direct engagement with audiences, created a lively theatrical experience within the festival space.
The participation was particularly significant for Theatre Express, as the initiative itself is rooted in the idea of carrying stories from one place to another and transforming them into a shared live experience. Presenting Ajji Kathegalu at a festival centred around books and literature created a meaningful connection between the written word, oral storytelling tradition and contemporary theatre.
The festival also featured a presentation of “Maarikaadu” in Tulu, bringing another important dimension of Kalabhi's theatrical work to the event. The presentation of a Tulu production within a literary and cultural gathering contributed to the representation of the region's linguistic and cultural identity, while placing local storytelling and performance traditions alongside Kannada literature and other artistic expressions.
Through the presentation of Ajji Kathegalu by Kalabhi Theatre Express and Maarikaadu in Tulu, Kalabhi's participation at Pustaka Habba became a celebration of stories in different forms and languages. It reflected the organisation's continuing engagement with literature, oral traditions, regional languages and live performance.
Pustaka Habba 2026 thus became another meaningful milestone in the journey of Kalabhi Theatre Express and Kalabhi's larger body of theatrical work, providing an opportunity to bring Ajji Kathegalu and Maarikaadu to a diverse cultural audience in Mangaluru.