The Jaipur literature festival, boasting of over 200 authors of national and international repute and with its focus on Dalit writings, took off to packed audiences at a royal palace here Thursday.

The fifth DSC Jaipur Literature Festival began at the Diggi Palace with a recitation of the English translation of ancient Indian poetry by noted poet and scholar Arvind Krishna Malhotra.

Writer William Dalrymple, one of the organisers, took the audience in the Durbar Hall of the palace on a walk down memory lane to highlight the festival's significance.

"In 2006, when we had conceived the festival as an adjunct to the Jaipur Virasat International Festival, only six people had turned up. The cast included 18 Indian authors and only one international author, Hari Kunzru, who was stopped over in Jaipur en route to New Zealand to meet his girlfriend!" Dalrymple said.

Since then, "a miracle happened and the festival found willing sponsors".

"Last year, we managed to get 147 authors, and this year the list includes 220 authors," Dalrymple said.

While the focus last year was on Pakistan, this year the focus is on Dalit literature, "bhasa or indigenous writing and international books that made news".

"We have had our share of controversies with our spotlight on the reawakening of Pakistan in 2009. But the presence of authors like Kamila Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid and Daniyal Moinuddin on the ground explaining the situation in the country helped impart a better perspective. The reaction to the authors from Pakistan was amazing.

"This year, we plan to do an encore with Dalit writers," Dalrymple said.

He quoted Andrew Hogan to say: "Great Literature never goes away and never stops surprising. The aim was to put Jaipur on the literary map."

The rendition by Lahore-born Malhotra was moving. He read out from an anthology of poetry, "Time and Space" spanning 2,500 years of Indian poetry beginning with an 8th century Prakrit version of a love poem and poems by contemporary Marathi poet Arun Balkrishna Kolatkar, known for his seminal verse "Jejuri".

Malhotra's rendition of Prakrit verses and Kolatkar's translations of Kabir's Bhakti verses set the tenor of the festival - resurrection of 'bhasa' or indigenous and ancient Indian literature.

It was followed by a reading by Gulzar of one his own poems, 'Kitab' - on a clash between books and computers.

The festival this time has stars on the literary firmament like Wole Soyinka, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Amit Chaudhuri, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright. Dalit authors such as Kancha Illaiah, Bama and O.P. Valmiki will also be present.

Faith Singh of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation said: "In Rajasthan, we have an extraordinary culture and the festival has played an important role in understanding the value of our heritage. It has become a jewel in the crown."

Singh, the brain behind the culture and literature revival movement in Jaipur, is currently trying to fuse indigenous desert culture with modern parameters of progress through a project, "Vikas and Virasat". She said literature was integral to the project.