Kuvempu – poet

by ricku · 25/10/2014

Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa widely known by the pen name Kuvempu better known as Kuvempu in short was born on 29th of December 1904. He is widely regarded as the greatest poet of 20th century Kannada literature. He is the first among eight recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada. What is more interesting is that puttappa wrote all his literary works using the pen name Kuvempu. He is the second,after M. Govinda Pai,among Kannada poets to be hailed as Rashtrakavi. His work Sri Ramayana Darshanam, the rewriting of the great ancient Indian epic Ramayana in modern Kannada, is regarded as revival of the era of Mahakavya in a contemporary form and charm. He is immortalised by some of his phrases, and in particular for his contribution to Universal Humanism or in his own words Vishwa maanavataa Vaada. He was conferred Padma Vibhushan by Government of India. He has penned the Karnataka State anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate.

Kuvempu was born in Hirekodige, Koppa taluk, of Chikmagalur district to a Vokkaliga Kannada family. Kuvempu’s ancestral house is in Kuppali, He was brought up in a place in the lush Malenadu region of Tirthahalli, called Kuppali, of Shivamogga district. His education began at his home by an appointed teacher from Dakshina Kannada. He joined Anglo Vernacular school in Tirthahalli to continue his middle school education. He lost his father Venkatappa Gowda at the early age of 12 due to ill health. Kuvempu finished his lower and secondary education in Kannada and English in Theerthahalli. He moved to Mysore for further education and completed his high school from the Wesleyan high school. He pursued his college studies in from Maharaja College of Mysore and graduated in 1929 majoring in Kannada. He married Hemavathi on 30 April 1937.He had two sons and two daughters, K P Poornachandra Tejaswi, Kokilodaya Chaitra, Indukala and Tharini. Tharini is married to K. Chidananda Gowda, the former Vice-Chancellor of Kuvempu University.

His “Raso Vai Saha” is a famous work of “kavya mimamsa”, the “Principles of literary criticism”, in the Kannada thought of twentieth century. He is credited for giving Kannada hundreds of new words, phrases and terminologies with distinctly precise ideas; literary, social, philosophical and spiritual. This led to common people asking him to suggest a name for their newborns, for decades, through postal correspondence, which he did. Kuvempu started his literary work in English first, with a collection of poetry called Beginner’s Muse, and later switched to Kannada.He spearheaded Kannada as a medium for education, emphasising the theme of “Education in Mother tongues”. To cater to the needs of Kannada research, he founded the The Institute of Kannada Studies in MysoreUniversity, which has since been renamed after him as Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies. As Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University, he pioneered the study of Basic Sciences and Languages.

Kuvempu was more than a writer, and the way he lived his life was in itself was a proof for that. He was against casteism, meaningless practices and rituals. Kuvempu’s writings also reflect his resentment against the caste system according to which the “Shoodra Tapaswi” shudras were unfit to attain knowledge. Kuvempu hails from the Vokkaliga community,which also gives a different perspective to the characters in the Ramayana unlike the portrayal of characters by Valmiki in his Sri Ramayana Darshanam which won him Jnanpith Award. This work is the complete Ramayana in Kannada. It underscores his vision of upliftment of one & all . Rama of his Ramayana personifies this when he tests himself along with his wife Seeta, by jumping into the fire. In the year 1987, a new university was started in Shimoga district, Karnataka in the name of Kuvempu. It is located in Jnana Sahyadri campus, 28 km from Shimoga. His son Poornachandra Tejaswi was a polymath, contributing significantly to Literature, Photography, Calligraphy, Digital Imaging, Social Movements, and Agriculture.

Awards :