Hubli, July 29, 2013: Hundreds of members of the Havyaka community congregated in Hubli on Sunday to celebrate Havyaka Habba, during which religious and cultural programmes were held.

The habba also marked the launch of a website of the Havyaka community of Hubli and Dharwad, which has been designed and maintained by Manjunath Bhat and Ishwar Bhat of HK-NG Tech.

On the occasion, several special dishes made by the Havyaka community were on display and 15 meritorious students of the community were honoured.

The habba began with 1008 Satyanarayana Sankalp Puja and Vishnu Sahasranama chanting, in which over 1,000 members of the community participated.

Inaugurating the stage programme, the former Assistant Commissioner and senior member of the community Krishna G. Kadekodi stressed the need for bringing together community members under a single umbrella.

Vice-president of Nandu Chemicals Usha Ramanandan Hegde said that Havyaka tradition advocated welfare of the society.

President of the Havyaka Education and Cultural Association M.K. Hegde elaborated on the plans of the association, which has embarked on building a well-equipped cultural hall in Hubli to facilitate programmes of the community.

He appealed to the community members to contribute generously towards making the hall a reality soon.

Honorary secretary D.N. Bhat welcomed the gathering. Treasurer Arunkumar Habbu, Prema Hegde, Sudarshan G.H. and other office-bearers were present.

As part of the Havyaka Habba, various dance and music performances were held.