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Home , Chandrashekhara Kambara, Jnanpith Award, Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Kolar district, Kuppalli, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar

Jnanpeeth Awardees from

The Jnanpeeth Award is the highest literary honour conferred in the Republic of . An Indian citizen who writes in any of the official is eligible for the honour. The award carries a cheque for Rs. 5,00,000.00 a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Vagdevi. The Jnanpeeth Award was instituted on May 22, 1961 The first award was given in 1965. Its first recipient was writer G. Sankara Kurup in 1965.

Kannada has won eight, the highest number of Jnana Peeth Awards, the most prestigious literary award given by the . The poets who won them are:

1. for Shri Darshanam

2. Dha. Raa. Bendhre for Naaku thanthi

3. Shivaram Karanth for Mookajjiya Kanasugalu

4. Masti Venkatesh Iyengar for Chikkaveera Raajendhra

5. Vi. Kru. for Bhaaratha Sindhhu Rashmi

6. for his works in

7. U. R. Ananthamurthy for his works in Kannada

8. Chandrashekar Kambar for his contribution to the literature field.

Rashtrakavi Kuvempu

Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (Kuvempu) : 1904 -1994

Born in Hirekodige and brought up in Kuppalli, thaluk in district. He got his B.A. and M.A. degree in at Maharaja's College, and he became lecturer in Kannada at the same same College and he became a professor and a principal, and retired as the Vice-chancellor of the University of Mysore.

In long five decades he created abudent 30 major collections of poems, children's Literature and , plays and novels. For his great prolific literature excellence he was awarded and honoured as "Rastrakavi".

Honours and awards: 1. Adhyaksha in Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, in 1957 at Dharwad 2. 'Padmavibhushana' by the Government of India. 3. Doctorate from Universities of Mysore, and Gulbarga 4. 'Rashtrakavi' title by the Government of Mysore. 5. award 1955 6. -for his Epic "Ramayana Darshanam" in 1969 7. Pampa award in 1988 of Karnataka

Works: 1. Ramayana Darshanam 2. Kanooru Heggaditi 3. Kaanuru Subbamma Heggadathi 4. Malegalalli Madumagalu 5. Jalagara 6. Smashana Kurukshetra 7. Shudra Tapasvi 8. Rakthakshi

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (Dhaa. Raa. Bendre):

1896 - 1986

Born in Dharwad. He took his B.A. at the famous Fergusson College in Pune. He got his M.A. in 1934 and worked as a teacher in different schools in different areas. He then joined Masti's monthly journal Jeevana as its honorary editor and went on to work in several more schools and colleges before joining the D.A.V. College of Sholapur as professor of Kannada. He remained in this position for 12 years till his superannuation at age 60.

Bendre composed close to 30 collections of poems, but also produced many memorable plays, short stories, critiques and translations, and he wrote in Marathi too. He was a renowned poet, critic and translator of Kannada and .

Honours and awards: 1. President of the 27th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana of Shimoga in 1943. 2. Awarded honorary doctorate by the University of Mysore and Karnataka 3. Elected Fellow of the Central Sahitya Akademi in 1969. 4. Honoured with the Central Sahitya Akademi 's award 5. Jnanpith award in 1974 for his anthology of poems Naku Thanthi .

Works: 1. Naku Thanthi 2. Thuthuri, Kogile 3. Krishnakumari 4. Nara Bali 5. Aralu Maralu 6. Samvada 7. Nada Lila

Shivaram Karanth

Shivaram Karanth : 1902 - 1997

Born at Kota in district. He had his primary education in Kundapur and his college education at the Government College, .

The vastness and variety of Karanth's life and works defy any definition. Novels, short stories, plays, encyclopaedias, translations, satires, travelogues, essays, biographies, critiques, works on folklore, art and sculpture, philosophy and science… no sphere of knowledge and no form of literature was alien to his creativity. Indeed, none else could have deserved sobriquets such as "Mobile Encyclopaedia" and "Bhargava of the Coast" more richly than Karanth.

Honours and awards: 1. "Bhargava of the Coast" 2. "Mobile Encyclopaedia" 3. Jnanpith award in 1977 for his "Mookajjiya Kanasu"(Mookajji's dreams) 4. Central and State Sahitya Academy awards. 5. Swedish Academy Award for services to folkdance. 6. As President of the thirty seventh Karnataka Literary conference held at Mysore in 1955 7. Honorary doctorates of Mysore and Karnataka universities. 8. He returned his Padmabhushan honor in protest against the Emergency, imposed by Indira Gandhi.

Works: 1. Mookajjiya Kanasu 2. "Marali Mannige" 3. Bettada Jeeva" 4. Maimanagala Suliyalli 5. Alida Mele

Masti Venkatesha Iyengar

Masti Venkatesha Iyengar: 1891-1986

He was born in Masti village of district. He passed MCS examination in 1913 and securing M.A. in 1914. As a civil servant, he held various positions of high responsibility in different parts of Karnataka, before retiring voluntarily in 1943. His long and diverse career of 3 decades was marked by total dedication to public service and exceptional administrative ability. And his wealth of experience as a bureaucrat gave immense inspiration for his literary works. His pseudonym Srinivasa is as popular as his native village Masti, in Kannada literary circles today.

Eventhough he started composing stories right in his earlier student days, his first published work became the history of modern Kannada short stories. And he was recognized as the "Brahma of Kannada Stories" (Forefather of Short Stories) . His works carry the best elements of literature in story form and with their inimitable language, narrative style and richness of theme and realities, powerfully relate to the readers. His story Subbanna, based on the life of a musician is a good example of this and it has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages.

Honours and awards: 1. "Brahma of Kannada Stories" ("Forefather of Short Stories") 2. Jnanpith award which came to him in 1983 for his historical novelChikkaveera Rajendra

Works: 1. 'Kelavu Sanna Kathegalu' 2. Channabasava Nayaka 3. Chikkaveera Rajendra 4. 3-volume autobiography 'Bhava' 5. Subbanna 6. Edited the monthly journal 'Jeevana' from 1944 - 1965 7. Written more than 120 books in Kannada 8. 17 books in English

Vinayaka Krishna Gokak

Vinayaka Krishna Gokak ( V.K. Gokak): 1909-1992

Born on August 9, 1909 at Gokak. He had his primary and high school education in , and took B.A. in 1929 and M.A. in 1931. he began his career as an Assistant Professor in Fergusson College, Pune and later he became the principal of D.E.Society's Willington College, Sangli. In 1936, he done his advanced studies with distinction at Oxford university. In 1946, he went to Rajasthan and set up a college in its desert region and in 1949, with the reorganisation of Indian states, his services in Rajasthan got transferred to the Government of Bombay and he became the principal of Karnataka College, Kolhapur, in 1952. He appointed as the Vice-chancellor of the in 1966.

The main phase of his literary career and his life itself began in 1925 when he was swayed by the magnetic force of the towering figure of D.R.Bendre. He given unparallelled contributions to poetry (including composition of the epic Bharatha Sindhurashmi), , criticism and various other forms of literature, apart from producing many scholarly works in English.

Honours and awards: 1. Presidentship of the 40th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in 1958. 2. Honorary doctorates from the . 3. Honorary doctorates from the Pacific University of the USA. 4. Central for his 'Dyava Prithivi' in 1961. 5. Jnanpith award-for his Bharatha sindhu rashmi, in 1990.

Works: 1. Bharatha sinDhu rashmi 2. Samarasave jeevana 3. Oornanaaba 4. Abyudaya 5. Baaladeguladalli 6. Dhyava pruthvi 7. Samudra geethegaLu Girish Karnad

He was born in on May 19, 1938. He got his bachelor's degree from the Karnatak University in 1958 and then proceeded on a fellowship to study at Oxford where he secured his M.A. degree in 1963.

Karnad is internationally known as a playwright, but is also a highly talented film-maker, a versatile actor, an able cultural administrator, a noted communicator and a person of wide accomplishments and interests. Based on his serious explorations of folklore, mythology and history, the subject of his plays reflect the problems and challenges of contemporary life, and endeavour to forge a link between the past and the present. The creative intellectual that he is, he obviously views the subjects of his plays from his own perspective, develops them in the crucible of his own imagination and personal experiences, and employs them as a medium to communicate his own-independent and original-feelings, thoughts and interpretations. Honours and awards: 1. Central Sangeeth Natak Akademi award for his Hayavadana 2. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya award in 1978. 3. His play "Nagamandala" was premiered in Minneapolis in the USA. 4. Staged all over the world 5. Samskara won the best film award 6. Vamsha Vriksha got national and state awards 7. Visiting professor at the in 1987-88 8. Director of the Film and Television Institute of India 9. Chairman of the Central Sangeeth Natak Akademi 10. Jnanpith award Works: 1. Hayavadana 2. 3. Tughalak 4. Anjumallige 5. Hittina Hunja Taledanda 6. Agni mathu Male 7. Tippuvina Kannasugalu 8. Translated his plays from Kannada into English 9. Translated his play Tughalak into German and Hungarian. 10. He is an Director, actor and screenplay writer for many Kannada movies such as Samskara, Vamsha Vriksha, Kadu, Kanooru Heggadithi. U. R. Ananthamurthy

Born in Melige village in Thirthahalli taluk on December 21, 1932 had his early education in Durvasamatha school. Educated at University of Birmingham in English literature. studied English and Comparative Literature in Mysore and Birmingham, where, in 1966, he studied for a PhD. He was professor of English Literature for several years at Mysore University, later vice chancellor of the Mahatma Ghandi University in Kottayam, chairman of the "National Book Trust" and president of the Sahitya Academy, the Academy in . Many guest professorships led him to Europe and the USA. He has written numerous short stories. Several of his novels and short fiction have been made into movies.

Honours and awards: 1. 2. Jnanpith award in 1994 3. Mouni' based on short story of Dr.URA was selected for Panorama section of IFFI 2003

Works: 1. Endendhigu Mugiyada Kathe 2. Samskara 3. Bhava 4. Bharathi Pura 5. Avasthe and published four novels, one play, six short story collections, five poetry collections and six collections of essays in Kannada and several pieces on literature in English 'Mouni' based on short story.

Chandrashekar Kambara

Early life was born in Ghodageri village in . He was the third son in the family, with brothers Parasappa and Yallappa who still reside in the small house belonging to the Kambara family in the village.[5] From an early age he was interested in folk arts, local culture and ritual.[1] His favourite Kannada writers include Kumara Vyasa, Basavanna, Kuvempu & Gopalakrishna Adigaand among English writers, it is W. B. Yeats, Shakespeare and Lorca.[9] Popularly known as Shivapur Kambar Master in his native district, Kambara had his schooling in Gokak and returned to Belagavi for higher education at Lingaraj College. Owing to poverty, he had to drop out of school[9] but Jagadguru Siddaram Swamiji of Savalagi blessed Kambara and took care of all his primary and high school educational expenses which is the reason why Kambara honours theseer[disambiguation needed] in many of his writings.[5] After his post-graduation, he did his PhD thesis on Uttara Karnatakada Janapad Rangbhumi ("The Folk of ") from Karnatak University, Dharwad.[10] [edit]Career After a brief stint in teaching in the University of Chicago, he taught in Bangalore University for over two decades and was a Fulbright scholar.[1] He served as the chairman of Society, from 1996 to 2000 and as the president of Karnataka Nataka Academy from 1980 to 1983. He started using north Karnataka dialectof Kannada in his poems and plays which is not very common in Kannada literature. Dr. Kambara is the founder vice-chancellor of the at . His grand vision of Kannada literature and Karnataka culture is reflected in the way he showed commitment to build it. The architecture, the choice of the subjects that cover the diverse variety of culture and society of Karnataka, selection of place, faculty or academic activities, the scholars whom he drafted from different parts of the state and the Nadoja honorary award instead of the honorary doctorate which he introduced, show Kambara's native vision which was evolved in his literary works for decades.[6] As the first vice-chancellor of the University, Kambara served two terms of three years each, during which he could shape it in a unique manner, compared to other traditional universities. All the constructions during his tenure as the vice-chancellor are on hillocks, with huge stone structures resembling the period architecture. He also created a separate publication unit for publishing the results of research and project works going on in Kannada University.[11] He is a strong supporter of imparting school education with Kannada language as the .[12] His justification for this stance is that only mother tongue can provide an "experience," which is an integral part of learning and learning through any other language only gives people "information," which makes them less competent.[13] This concurs with UNESCO's recommendation that "providing education in a child's mother tongue is a critical issue."[14] [edit]Works Dr. Kambara has to his credit 25 plays, 11 anthologies of poems, 5 novels, 16 research works and several scholarly write-ups on folk theatre, literature and education.[1] Some of his popular plays include "Jokumaraswamy", "Jayasidnayaka", "Kadu Kudure", "Nayi Kathe", "Mahamayi", "Harakeya Kuri" and others. He was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1991 for another popular playSirisampige.[15] He was a pioneer in introducing Bailahongal's famous Sangya Balya (bayalata) and Jokumaraswamy, a traditional ritual of his native district, to the literary world[1] which have seen thousands of performances, not only in Kannada, but several other Indian languages as well.[2] His most recent novel, Shikhar Soorya, is rated among the best Kannada novels.[10] Many of his works have been translated to English and several other Indian languages. The play Jokumaraswamy has been translated to English (Seagull Books, Calcutta in 1989), Marathi (Abholi Prakashan, Solhapur in 2000), (Vidya Prakashan Mandir, New Delhi in 1985), Telugu (Mudrika Printers, Kurnool in 1993), Tamil, Punjabi and Malayalam among others. The Sahitya Akademi Award-winning playSirisampige has been translated to English (Seagull Books)[16] and to Tamil, Hindi, Marathi and Rajasthani by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Kulothe Chingaramma, which was translated to Malayalam by C Raghavan, is one of his works that has become popular in Kerala.[17] Besides being a littérateur, Kambara has also been involved in film-making. He has directed a number of movies based on the plays written by him. He has made 5 Feature Films and several Documentaries and composed music for Feature Films, Several Documentaries and Tele Serials. His "Kaadu Kudure" entered into the Indian Panorama and won the National Award. His film "Sangeeta" won the Best Feature Film State Award in the year 1981 He has also adopted his play G.K. Maasthara Pranaya Prasanga for television. Kambara has produced several documentaries for both state and central governments. Besides his voluminous works, Kambar has presented papers on Indian Folklore and theatre in the University of Chicago, American Oriental Centre, New York, International Theatre Institute – Berlin, Moscow, and Jade: Akita Japan and many Universities and cultural organizations in India. The Folklore Dictionary he compiled for Kannada Sahitya Parishad is a monumental work. [edit]Themes In his lengthy narrative poem Helatena Kela ("Listen, I will tell you") in the early 1960s, Kambara introduced some of the recurring themes which he would often return to in his later works. Themes of tradition and modernity, crises of feudalism, native identities, colonialism, march of history, sex, loss of faith, the death of God and several related themes explored later in his plays, novels and poetry had found metaphorical expression in the narrative poem.[6] The eponymous, long narrative poem has the musicality and rhythm of the Lavani form and uses rich earthy imagery.[18] Shivapura is an imaginary utopian village which continues to be a character, a and the locale in most of his works. It forms the locus of his poems and tales.[19] In his characterisation, Lord Shivaand visit the place and bless the villagers. Even , when he was going to Sri Lanka in search of , visits the village en route.[10] [edit]Awards and honours Five of his books have been awarded by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy. His well known play Jokumaraswamy has won the "Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Award" of Natya Sangh as the "Best Play of the Year" in India in the year 1975. Another popular play Jaisidanayaka won the Vardhamaana Prasasti as the "Best Book of the Year" – 1975 in Karnataka. His Saavirada Neralu won the "Ashan Award" (Kerala) as the best collection of poems in 1982. He won the K.V. Shankare Gowda Award for Theatre in 1990. He is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak AkademiAward, New Delhi,[2] for playwrighting in the year 1983 and the Sahitya Akademi Award, New Delhi, for the play Siri Sampige in 1991.[20] Dr. Kambara received the eighth Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language, the highest literary honour conferred in India, in September 2011 for the year 2010.[15] The prestigious award which was instituted in 1961, carries a cheque for 750,000, a citation and a bronze replica of goddess Vagdevi.[21] The Chief Minister of Karnataka, D. V. Sadananda Gowda was among the many dignitaries who wished him on the occasion of receiving this award.[22] At a felicitation ceremony held a week after winning the award, the announced that it will reprint all works of Kambara, including his plays and make them available at all government school libraries. His works will also be translated to different languages. A drama festival featuring his plays will be staged to honour the laureate.[23] List of awards: Akademy Ratna, Central Sangeet Natak Akademy … 2011 Jnaanapeeth … 2010 Devaraj Urs Award. Government of Karnataka … 2007 Joshua Sahitya Puraskaram – … 2005 Nadoja Prashasti, Kannada University, Hampi … 2004 Pampa Prasasti … 2004 Kabeer Samman … 2002 Padmashree … 2001 Maasti Prasasti … 1997 Janapada and Academy Award … 1993 Sahitya Academy Award for ‘Siri Sampige’ (New Delhi) … 1991 Karnataka Sahitya Academy … 1989 Karnataka Government Rajyotsava Prasasti … 1988 Nandikar, Calcutta … 1987 Karnataka Nataka Academy … 1987 Sangeet Nataka Academy Award (New Delhi) … 1983 Kumaran Ashan Award – Kerala … 1982 Vajramahotsava Festivals … 1975

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