Jnanpeeth Awardees from Karnataka The Jnanpeeth Award is the highest literary honour conferred in the Republic of India. An Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India 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 Malayalam 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 Government of India. The poets who won them are: 1. Kuvempu for Shri Ramayana Darshanam 2. Dha. Raa. Bendhre for Naaku thanthi 3. Shivaram Karanth for Mookajjiya Kanasugalu 4. Masti Venkatesh Iyengar for Chikkaveera Raajendhra 5. Vi. Kru. Gokak for Bhaaratha Sindhhu Rashmi 6. Girish Karnad for his works in Kannada 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, Thirthahalli thaluk in Shimoga district. He got his B.A. and M.A. degree in Kannada literature at Maharaja's College, Mysore 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 translations, 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, Bangalore and Gulbarga 4. 'Rashtrakavi' title by the Government of Mysore. 5. Sahitya Akademi award 1955 6. Jnanpith award-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 Marathi literature. 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 Dakshina Kannada district. He had his primary education in Kundapur and his college education at the Government College, Mangalore. 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 Kolar 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 Savanur, 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 Bangalore University 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 Kannada poetry D.R.Bendre. He given unparallelled contributions to poetry (including composition of the epic Bharatha Sindhurashmi), drama, 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 Karnatak University. 3. Honorary doctorates from the Pacific University of the USA. 4. Central Sahitya Akademi award 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 Maharashtra 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 play 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 University of Chicago 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. Yayati 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 Sanskrit school.