Pavithra Hanchagaiah
Pavithra Hanchagaiah is a passionate Kannada technologist, writer, and civicista who has bridged ancient literature and modern technology. She co-founded Vachana Sanchaya, a pioneering open-source platform that digitised over 20,000 11th–12th century Kannada Vachanas—making them searchable and accessible online
Her journey began with writing scripts to convert Vachana texts from ASCII to Unicode, enabling researchers, students, and casual readers to discover these spiritual and social verses with ease Launched in 2014, the platform now hosts around 200,000 unique words from more than 21,000 Vachanas, and has drawn millions of readers worldwide
Pavithra’s contributions exemplify how technology and literature can come together to enrich cultural heritage. At BBLF 2025, she will share her inspiring story of digital preservation, open access, and the role of civic media in reviving Kannada’s literary legacy.
