The event is a celebration of the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth and starts with a lecture by Dr. Roberto Bertilaccio on Dante, his time and his Divine Comedy. Readings from Inferno Canto V follow. The entire Canto V is read in Italian and English, excerpts will be read in French, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bengali. Canto V has been chosen as it is one of the most famous of the Divine Comedy, it portrays Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta punished together in Hell for their adultery.
A rare 15th century manuscript of the Divine Comedy will be on view. It was given to the Asian Society of Mumbai by Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Mumbai and President of the Asian Society from 1819–1827 and bears his signature. It is a beautiful codex on parchment and is richly illustrated.