Mysuru: Days after BJP leader and former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna wrote to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar to take urgent measures to convert the 85-year-old house of Poet Laureate and Jnanpith awardee Kuvempu (K.V. Puttappa) in city into a Museum, Tourism, Ecology and Environment Minister C.P. Yogeeshwar visited Kuvempu’s house in VV Mohalla last evening to have a formal discussion with the family members. 

The Minister met Kuvempu’s daughter Tarini and son-in-law Prof. K. Chidananda Gowda, former VC of Kuvempu University and held closed-door discussion in this regard. The house was built in Vani Vilas Mohalla in 1936. Kuvempu penned some of his best works in this house, which he named ‘Udayaravi’ (Rising Sun).

Without revealing much about the discussion he had with Kuvempu’s family, Yogeeshwar told reporters later that the Poet Laureate spent most of his time inside the house and the structure worked as a muse for Kuvempu to pen some of the best literary gems in Kannada. “We have to preserve the house for the next generation so that along with his literary works, his lifestyle and the place where he lived becomes memorable,” he said. 

The plan to convert the house into a Museum was mooted in 2017 and officials of the Kannada and Culture Department discussed the same with the family members of Kuvempu. 

Mentioning about this project, the Minister said that the plan is not active now. “I will discuss the issue with CM Yediyurappa and District Minister Somashekar and will take the project forward. This is my first visit to Mysuru and will inform about the plans as they take shape,” he added. 

Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman Hemanth Kumar Gowda and others accompanied the Minister.