Kavi Sammelan is a formal or informal gathering of poets in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

-speaking belts of northern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The participants recite their poetry to each other and have a general discussion of literary issues. This may take place in private homes or before an audience. In the era before economic liberalization(1991), kavi sammelans were a popular part of everyday life. They were often broadcast on the state-owned Doordarshan

DoorDarshan

Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

 TV network. Post-liberalization, with increasing westernization and proliferation of electronic media, the frequency of such gatherings has reduced.

History

Although, kavi-sammelan of small gatherings have been in existence since time immemorial, the first grand kavi sammelan was organized in the year 1920, which included many poets and large audiences. After that, kavi sammelan has become an inseparable part of Indian culture.

In India, the period from Indian independence in 1947 to the early 1980s was a golden phase for kavi sammelan. From the mid 1980s up to the late 1990s, the Indian population, and especially its youth, was suffering from issues such as unemployment. This took its toll on kavi sammelan, as did newer modes of entertainment such as television and the internet, as well as the quantity of Indian cinema releases. Kavi sammelans had started losing their standing in Indian culture, both in terms of quantity and quality.

Indian and International Organizers

Hindi kavi sammelans are organized across the globe by Hindi lovers. The US, Dubai, Muscat, Singapore, UK are the places that organize highest number of kavi sammelans after India. In most of the kavi sammelans organized in these countries, the poets are generally invited from India.

Earlier, Kavi-Sammelans were organized by social and cultural groups. But these days, the kavi-sammelans are very mush popular among Universities, Colleges and Even corporate. Most of the Kavi-Sammelans organized in colleges and corporates do comprise of a small team of 3-4 poets, and this is the most prevalent tradition now-a-days.

The later part of 2000's also saw a change in the way kavi sammelan are being organized. Even online booking of kavi sammelan was started in this time

Format

The format of kavi sammelan has not seen many changes since its inception. The traditional format has a Sanchalak (anchor) and a few poets. The number of total poets vary from three to twenties and even thirty. In the traditional format, all the poets sit on a mattress on the stage. The mattress is decorated by flowers, and traditional cylindrical pillows are kept for each poet. There is one standing mike, and one sitting mike. The sitting mike is kept in front of the Sanchalak. He introduces the whole team to the audiences, and then calls the poets one by one. These poets come to the standing mike and recite their poems to the audiences. The order of recitation is generally from most junior to the mist senior poet. But most of the traditional kavi sammelan has 7-12 poets.

Breaking the traditions, today even solo kavi sammelan are being organized (although the term 'kavi sammelan' indicates plural number of participants, of late solo performances have also been called kavi sammelan). The positioning of Kavi-Sammelans have come out of the traditional set-up, and now poetry shows are labelled not less than musical concerts. Although this is a matter of discussion among the experts that whether the change of format of Kavi-Sammelan is upgradation or downgradation, even the most senior poets have supported the changing format.

Famous poets of Kavi Sammelan

There have been thousands of poets who performed in kavi sammelan at one place or other. But there are some names, who would always be remembered for their contribution to kavi sammelan. . There have been many great poets who never performed on stage. The most prominent names of kavi sammelan stage performers right from the post independence (and a few last years on British rule)days are Santoshanand, Shail Chaturvedi

Shail Chaturvedi

Shail Chaturvedi was a Hindi poet, satirist, humorist, lyricist and actor from India, most known for his political satire in the 70’s and the 80’s.He worked as a character actor in several Hindi films and TV series.-Career:...

, Late Dr Urmilesh, Dr Surendra Sharma, Uday Pratap, Late Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'

Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'

Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic, who is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He remerged as a poet of rebellion as a consequence of his nationalist poetry written in the days before Indian independence...

, Late Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'

Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'

Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' was one of the most famous figures of the modern Hindi literature. He was a poet, novelist, essayist and story-writer...

, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Padm Bhushan Gopal Das 'Niraj', Late Mahadevi Verma, Kaka Hathrasi

Kaka Hathrasi

Kaka Hathrasi was a noted Hindi satirist and humorist poet of India. His real name was Prabhu Dayal Garg, though he wrote under the pen name Kaka Hathrasi, after his home town Hathras, and published over 42 collections of humorous verse, in all...

, Late Om Prakash Aditya

Om Prakash Aditya

Om Prakash Aditya was a renowned hindi poet and satirist. He was also a famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He was widely known for his witty and satiric poems. "Gori Bethi Chhat Par", "Idhar Bhi Gadhe Hain, Udhar Bhi Gadhe Hain", "Tota And Maina" are some of his famous poems...

, Dr Kunwar Bechain, Hullad Moradabadi, Late Alhad Bikaneri, Ashok Chakradhar

Ashok Chakradhar

Ashok Chakradhar at Aheerpada Khurja, BulandshaharAshok Chakradhar is widely been regarded as the greatest of the latest of Indian poets, his writings and his recitations are like nonetheless of an devout like an Ameen Sayani on radio ceylon and Vividh Bharti he's a leading Hindi poet...

, Late Niraj Puri, Maya Govind, Er. Nityanand Tushar, Pradeep Chaubey Dr. Kumar Vishwas

Kumar Vishwas

Kumar Vishwas is a renowned Hindi Poet and a professor of Hindi Literature from Pilkhuwa, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.-Early life and education:...

are well known name these days.