An international conference on 'The advancing steps of Hindi in various contexts,' jointly organized by the Department of Hindi Studies, University of Kelaniya, and 'Utpal' Journal, Jaipur, India, was successfully held on 12th September 2025 at the K14 Board Room of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya.

The event was organized to celebrate India's National Hindi Day which falls on the 14th of September, to share new knowledge, and to appreciate the contribution of Senior Professor Lakshman Senevirathne to Hindi in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Ankuran Dutta, Director of the Swami Vivekanand Cultural Centre, Colombo, and Dr. Sudath Senarath, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities participated in the event as Chief Guests. In addition to the chief guests, Dr. Neetha Senevirathna, Head of the Department of Hindi Studies; Prof. Mukesh Kumar Mishra; Prof. Sudhir Soni; Prof. Pradeep Kumar; and Senior Prof. Lakshman Senevirathne addressed the gathering. 

A key highlight of the event was the launch of the felicitation volume on Senior Professor Lakshman Senevirathne, appreciating his contribution to Hindi in Sri Lanka. The volume with 15 biographical articles was edited by Dr. Rajendra Ghode, Prof. Mukesh Kumar Mishra, and Mrs. Subhashini Rathnayake, and published by Yking Books, Jaipur. Next, the event featured the launch of ‘Kelaniya’ Sinhala-Hindi Dictionary compiled by Senior Professor Lakshman Senevirathne. This dictionary includes over 50,000 entries and 600 idioms. Furthermore, some other Hindi books written/edited by Indian scholars were launched during the occasion.

Later, several Indian and Sri Lankan scholars and researchers presented their research papers and reviews on several sub-tracks related to the development of the Hindi language and culture globally. Finally, presenters and participants were awarded with tokens of appreciation and certificates.

Indian scholars including Prof. Balram Gupta, Prof. Jayant Kar Sharma, Prof. Anita Nayar, Dr. Rajendra Ghode, Dr. Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Dr. Savita Tayde, Dr. Atul Kumar Pandey, and Hindi writer Sharmila Ghode joined the event. Moreover, Sri Lankan scholars from other universities, some scholars of the Faculty of Humanities, academic and non-academic staff members of the Department, Hindi teachers, other invitees, and undergraduates following the BA (Hons) in Hindi degree program were present at the occasion.