Tulu Wikipedia celebrates 10th anniversary with a host of activities

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Participants at the 10th anniversary celebration of Tulu Wikipedia in Mangaluru on Saturday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH

Marking a significant milestone at the global level when it went live a decade ago, Tulu Wikipedia, promoted by the Karavali Wikimedians User Group, celebrated its 10th anniversary by hosting a host of activities here on Saturday.

Tulu Wikipedia has about 4,000 articles with 35 active editors now, said Vishwanath Badikana, president, Karavali Wikimedians User Group, on the occasion. It had a little over 1,000 articles when it went live on August 6, 2016, at the WikiConference India, 2016, in Chandigarh, he said.

The Wikipedia played a pivotal role in the digital preservation and promotion of the Tulu language, literature, heritage, and culture during its decade-long journey, he said. Tulu Wikipedia was in incubation for eight years before going live. Tulu became the 23rd Indian language edition of Wikipedia.

Speaking on the occasion, U.B. Pavanaja, secretary, Karavali Wikimedians User Group, and a senior information technology expert, said that there is a need to bring out a Tulu encyclopedia.

Bharatesha Alasandemajalu, an editor of Tulu Wikipedia and convener of the 10th anniversary celebrations, said that initially Tulu Wikipedia prioritised topics related to Tulu Nadu’s cultural fabric — such as Bhoota Kola (spirit worship), folklore, local rituals, traditional sports and indigenous customs. Today, it has documented a broader spectrum of topics, including prominent personalities, villages, taluks, institutions, artists, cinema, geography, nature, culinary heritage and medicinal flora. “Preserving localised indigenous knowledge in digital formats for future generations remains the core mission of Tulu Wikipedia,” he said.

Volunteers emphasised that documenting new Tulu films, artists, regional personalities, villages and institutions will help build an expansive digital repository of open knowledge, he said.

Currently, Tulu Wikimedians are engaged in documenting the living heritage and indigenous wisdom of Tulu Nadu under the project ‘Wiki Loves Tuluvad’s Living and Cultural Heritage’.

High-quality open-access data in Tulu will serve as a foundational resource for future digital language tools and AI models. Alongside recording native Tulu knowledge within the language, there is an equal need to translate global knowledge into Tulu, thereby expanding the language’s digital footprint worldwide, Mr. Alasandemajalu said.

To mark the celebrations, Kanyapu and Sonada Jogi folk performances were held. There was also Yakshagana natya.

In addition, the participants discussed various aspects of writing for Wikipedia.

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