Indian Carnatic vocalist Sushma Soma welcomed the visitors with a beautiful performance to mark the commencement of the 16th edition of the festival at the front lawn of the Hotel Clarks Amer. Photo Courtesy: Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 

People pour in on the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 ahead of the musical performance and opening ceremony. The festival will take place over five days . Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto

The inaugural ceremony saw writers Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple kick off the festival along with a keynote address from 2021 Nobel laureate Tanzania-born British author Abdulrazak Gurnah (in picture) on ‘writing as a form of resistance’. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto/Mid-day

 A crowd gathers near the front lawn on the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival to hear Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah’s keynote address and witness the opening ceremony of the festival. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto/Mid-day

Indian politician and author Shashi Tharoor, Indian anti-caste scholar Sumit Samos in conversation with Pragya Tiwari about their new books ‘Ambedkar: A Life’ and ‘Affairs of Caste’ on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in an afternoon session titled ‘BR Ambedkar: Life and Times’. Photo Courtesy: Jaipur Literature Festival 2023

Visitors make a beeline to get their books signed by Indian novelist Geetanjali Shree after the last session titled ‘Ret Samadhi: Tomb of Sand’. Tanuj Solanki was in conversation with Shree and American translator Daisy Rockwell who won the International Booker Prize for her translation of the author’s Tomb of Sand in 2021. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto/Mid-day

Indian indie musician Suryakant Sahwney, better known as Lifafa performs at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 to end the first day on a high. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto