Kanaka Murthy hails from Thirumakudalu Narasipura and is born into a large culturally oriented family. Curiosity about nature and surroundings always tickled her mind even when she was a young child and she would keenly watch the housemaid sprinkling the front courtyard of her parents’ house with water and cow-dung paste and after neatly rubbing the same with a broom over which she would create various designs in white and colour marble powder — a daily chore in most of the Hindu homes.  

As a first step in her sojourn of art she learnt about the various designs of ‘Rangoli’ art and this would tickle her mind as to why she could not create such designs in stone. As part of this voyage she started visiting the Somanathapur temple nearby as often as possible and her keen mind would open up her ambition to sculpt such figures in stone.

Sculpting in stone which was mainly a man’s venture entered into the inner chords of her mind and after nearly fifty years, Kanaka ventured into her vocation with a chisel and hammer in hands and started sculpting small figures. Her mother and the immense love and knowledge of her Guru  Vadiraj helped her to scale-up her activities in the field. In all such ventures she was serious to keep up to the tradition of ‘Stone-Art’ tickled with beautiful outpouring of her fertile imagination.

Kanaka Murthy’s foray has extended beyond stone into bronze. A bronze statue of Kuvempu at Lalbagh, Bengaluru, four feet high Hoysala style Vishnu at ‘Satya Sai Hospital’ and a bronze statue of Sir MV at Institution of Engineers, Mysuru, are all her creations to name a few.

Naturally enough Kanaka Murthy has bagged the coveted State Rajyotsava Award and Karnataka Shilpakala Academy Award to name a few. She has also represented India in 1985 and 1989 at ‘Art in Action’ at London. A native  of T. Narasipura in Mysuru district, she has thought of creating a ‘Bust-Statue’ in Blackstone of the world famous Violinist of our times Thirumakudlu Chowdiah which she has generously donated to ‘Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha’ where, very surprisingly, this bust will join the noble company of another Music Giant and Composer of our times the late K. Vasudevacharya — both of whom are ‘Sangeetha Kala Nidhis.’    

Kanaka’s closest Mysuru connection is her brother Dr. M.S. Bhaskar, city’s leading Neuro-Surgeon and Hindustani Vocalist, rolled into one.

— M. L. Krishnaswami